CreativeOne Wealth LLC Buys New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $352,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $465,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% in the third quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 4,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 47,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,881,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 99.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 36,660 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,994,000 after acquiring an additional 18,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other 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 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. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’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 $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.97. 3,550,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,577,264. The firm has a market capitalization of $160.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.54. 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 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.