Cwm LLC Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cwm LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,997 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $92.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $149.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 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 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.