Vivaldi Capital Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 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.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $132.08 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $211.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $115.71 and a 200 day moving average of $125.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley 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.