CFM Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 644 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CFM Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. CFM Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during 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 during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Union Savings Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.75. The stock had a trading volume of 6,513,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,648,845. The company has a market capitalization of $157.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $96.24 and a 200-day moving average of $91.54. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

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.