Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by First Dallas Securities Inc.

First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,865,645 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 575,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $958,105,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $97.19. 9,058,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day moving average is $91.71. The stock has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. 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 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $103.25.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, 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 quarter, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Corporate 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.