Capital Advisors Inc. OK Has $54.26 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 41.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 581,837 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 170,035 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.2% of Capital Advisors Inc. OK's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $54,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. NBW Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 3,025 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Platte River Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Platte River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $95.48.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $86.19. 12,789,787 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,500,974. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $140.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $88.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.76%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.