Claro Advisors LLC Purchases 286 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Claro Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,594,000 after acquiring an additional 13,334 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 101,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,289,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $521,000. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC now owns 333,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,251,000 after purchasing an additional 83,732 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.97 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $99.16. 7,417,236 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,640,594. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. 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.