MJP Associates Inc. ADV Acquires New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,222 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $0.43 on Friday, hitting $132.08. 6,300,069 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,704,600. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $115.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.08. The firm has a market cap of $211.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. Citigroup lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.