BKM Wealth Management LLC Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during 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 period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during 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 period. Finally, Union Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $99.16 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $161.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.81. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were 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 $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.