West Paces Advisors Inc. Acquires 118 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865,645 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after purchasing an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after purchasing an additional 575,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $958,105,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.70 on Tuesday, reaching $97.80. 7,437,162 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,658,223. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer raised 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. HSBC lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.