Truvestments Capital LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 523.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,914 shares during the quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 364,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,009,000 after acquiring an additional 19,614 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 83,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 2,297 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after buying an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 43,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,068,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,599,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,501,547. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $99.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Cfra lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.18.

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.