Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC Has $436,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.62.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $144.50 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $129.57 and its 200-day moving average is $126.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $144.56.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.