Addison Advisors LLC Purchases 218 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $92.83. 4,606,109 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,720,944. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.44. The company has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during 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 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

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.