Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 124.6% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 1,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,460,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 9,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 622.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 48,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 42,033 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $93.64. 5,043,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $90.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.87. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The firm has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.