Everpar Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,665 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,665 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $901,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 328.0% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11,295 shares in the last quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $539,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,820,988 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $815,908,000 after acquiring an additional 383,211 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,268 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,594 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 3,376 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE MS traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.64. 4,662,561 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,411,363. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $96.05. The firm has a market cap of $155.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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