Evexia Wealth LLC Purchases 909 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Evexia Wealth LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 909 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.6% of Evexia Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Evexia Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $95.79. 6,844,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,453,903. The company has a market capitalization of $155.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.69 and a 200 day moving average of $86.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Cfra upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.