Reliant Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,599,000. Morgan Stanley comprises about 2.2% of Reliant Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 35,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 26,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,663 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 7,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Cfra increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.19. 9,058,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $96.61 and its 200 day moving average is $91.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.