Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Acquires Shares of 8,006 Morgan Stanley $MS

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after buying an additional 7,688 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,127,000 after buying an additional 15,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,805,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley was highlighted in coverage of U.S. banks near record highs, with the firm benefiting from accelerating earnings and sales growth across the sector. Morgan Stanley Joins Elite List As Stock Hits Highs; Goldman Sachs Rides Massive Deals Wave
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst and valuation commentary has reinforced the bull case, with investors focusing on Morgan Stanley’s strong earnings revisions and upgraded outlook after a solid quarterly beat. A Look At Morgan Stanley (MS) Valuation As Analyst Upgrades And Earnings Revisions Lift Confidence
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from “strong-buy” to “hold,” which may cap some upside, but the market appears to be looking past that call for now. Zacks.com

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. HSBC increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE MS opened at $207.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $183.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.48. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $126.35 and a one year high of $208.08. The company has a market capitalization of $327.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The company had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.