Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $1.01 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 141.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,244 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 10,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $245,000. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 6,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 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 note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $1.71 during trading on Monday, reaching $102.48. The stock had a trading volume of 5,179,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,641,718. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.58 and a 200-day moving average of $93.26. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. 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 stock has a market cap of $166.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. 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.