Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 156,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 266 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Cfra lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

MS stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $92.91. 2,150,571 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,695,831. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $89.55 and a 200-day moving average of $85.31. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 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.