Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ 8th Largest Position

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,025 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 2.2% of Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of MS opened at $130.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.78 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $116.05 and its 200 day moving average is $125.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.