New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Buys 14,600 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after acquiring an additional 27,845 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after acquiring an additional 48,812 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $615,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.19. 9,058,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,320,035. The firm has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.