Buffington Mohr McNeal Has $529,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Buffington Mohr McNeal cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.4% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.48.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $2.62 on Tuesday, hitting $89.61. The stock had a trading volume of 11,851,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,843,653. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $145.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $88.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.72.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last ninety days. 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.