Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Has $3.34 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,075 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.5% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Paralel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 21,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Corton Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 185.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 13,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 8,513 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 35,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,896,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,058,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. 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 stock has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.