Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $132.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.64 and a 200 day moving average of $125.22. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.