AA Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MS traded up $0.23 on Wednesday, reaching $102.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,737,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,481,907. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The firm has a market cap of $167.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $97.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’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 $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.07.

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.