Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,045 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.20 on Friday, hitting $109.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,231,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,655,480. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.36 and a one year high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $119.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.31.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.