Chatham Capital Group Inc. Acquires 1,975 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chatham Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th 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 period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the 4th 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 period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus 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 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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.19. 9,058,849 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $103.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.81. 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 firm has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.