Trek Financial LLC Takes $3.98 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,643 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,978,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.8% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.1% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 30.2% during the third quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,795 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 80.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 240,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $23,408,000 after buying an additional 106,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $108.16. The company had a trading volume of 5,449,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,803,550. The firm has a market cap of $174.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.24.

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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.