Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Acquires 19,944 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,944 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after buying an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 10,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 272,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,407,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,051,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,009,000 after buying an additional 87,047 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MS shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $1.19 on Tuesday, hitting $90.92. 1,639,943 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,587,248. 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 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $147.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.79 and a 200 day moving average of $85.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid 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 yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.