Farther Finance Advisors LLC Purchases 2,989 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 33.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,989 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $211.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $120.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.23.

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.