Capital Advisors Inc. OK Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 503,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,332 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.2% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $58,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $386,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $222,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.3%

MS stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $143.76. 5,990,224 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,690,327. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $145.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $129.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.12.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.