Buffington Mohr McNeal Has $1.07 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Buffington Mohr McNeal raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 100.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after buying an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after purchasing an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.65. The company had a trading volume of 5,570,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,624,194. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $96.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.86. 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 has a market capitalization of $161.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.