World Investment Advisors Purchases 2,297 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,297 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 172.2% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 21,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 13,349 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 41,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,886,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SMART Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3%

MS traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $143.76. 5,990,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,690,327. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $230.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.12. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.11.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy 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 stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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