Albion Financial Group UT Buys 2,026 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,026 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $512,867,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,094,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $659,251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.20. 3,111,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,588,666. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $162.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.92.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.