Claro Advisors LLC Acquires 286 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position 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 worth $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 in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Union Savings Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cfra lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.97 on Monday, reaching $99.16. The company had a trading volume of 7,417,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,640,594. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. 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 has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.61 and its 200-day moving average is $91.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.