Krilogy Financial LLC Invests $1.29 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,292,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 122.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,404,000 after acquiring an additional 31,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 31.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MS traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $98.92. The stock had a trading volume of 5,578,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,138,761. The firm has a market cap of $160.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $93.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.31. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.

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