43,100 Shares in Morgan Stanley $MS Purchased by Providence Capital Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Providence Capital Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley, purchasing 43,100 shares worth approximately $5.03 million in the first quarter.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, an increase from its previous dividend of $0.93, reflecting a 2.7% yield.
• Equities analysts have recently revised their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgrading their rating from "market perform" to "outperform" and raising the price objective to $160.00.

Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 43,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $5,028,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $3.96 on Friday, hitting $144.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,985,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,890,343. The firm has a market cap of $230.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.68. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $149.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

About Morgan Stanley

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.