Avior Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after purchasing an additional 415,531 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after purchasing an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $956,566,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after buying an additional 10,632,735 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Cfra boosted 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

MS stock opened at $90.08 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $88.73 and its 200 day moving average is $84.81. The firm has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.