Lyell Wealth Management LP Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,772 shares during the quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd 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, Front Row Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1 %

MS traded up $0.10 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.86. The stock had a trading volume of 5,100,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. The company has a market capitalization of $152.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.26.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.