Allen Investment Management LLC Has $2.05 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Allen Investment Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 193.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,559 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,615 shares during the quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 8,512 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 103.1% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 6,448 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.6% in the third quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 113,504 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,043,000 after buying an additional 39,104 shares during the period. A4 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $855,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 157,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,048,000 after purchasing an additional 5,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $211.07 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $126.36 and a 52-week high of $212.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $184.82 and a 200-day moving average of $177.79. The company has a market capitalization of $332.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $173.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Dbs Bank increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s oil-market commentary suggests prolonged supply disruption risk, which keeps investors focused on macro trading opportunities and broader market volatility that can benefit big investment banks. Morgan Stanley (MS) Says It’ll Take Four Months for Middle East Oil Production to Recover
• Positive Sentiment: MS has also been trading near its 52-week high, reflecting strong momentum and continued investor confidence after a better-than-expected earnings report earlier this year.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.