Provence Wealth Management Group Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Provence Wealth Management Group increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1,074.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after buying an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after buying an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after acquiring an additional 766,530 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $93.64. The company had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. 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 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC upped 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

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.