Buckley Wealth Management LLC Buys 128 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,865,645 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575,114 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $958,105,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 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 dated 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 sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 dated 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 sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $96.50. 2,388,989 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,588,606. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $103.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $156.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38.

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 analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. 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 research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.