Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in 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 during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Cfra increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:MS traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.16. 10,983,279 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,295,027. The firm has a market cap of $156.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.31.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 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.