Albion Financial Group UT Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,026 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 14.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,594,000 after acquiring an additional 13,334 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 22.7% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the third quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 101,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,289,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $521,000. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 33.5% in the third quarter. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC now owns 333,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,251,000 after acquiring an additional 83,732 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.48.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $100.20. 3,111,939 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,588,666. The company has a market cap of $162.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $103.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.