Lincoln National Corp Acquires 2,941 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,941 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in 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 last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its stake in 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.15 on Monday, hitting $94.79. 5,103,496 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,465,847. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market cap of $154.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. 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.