Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Has $2.70 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,125 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,550 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares during the period. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,019,000 after buying an additional 21,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. Bank of America cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.69.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS traded down $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $142.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,646,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,675,872. The company has a market capitalization of $228.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $145.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $131.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.60.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

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.