Certuity LLC Purchases 782 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Certuity LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.9% of Certuity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $207,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 111,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,435,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,619,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 10,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $91.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,757,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,602,170. The firm has a market cap of $148.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.79 and a 200 day moving average of $85.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for 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 10.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.