Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 4,251 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 55.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,905 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,251 shares during the quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $140.80. 5,572,318 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,580,971. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.