1,135 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by WD Rutherford LLC

WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 26,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 7,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 5,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.19. The company had a trading volume of 9,058,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.71. The company has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer raised their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.