Clear Rock Advisors LLC Buys 345 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Clear Rock Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Clear Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Union Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 5.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $5.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.85. The stock had a trading volume of 11,120,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,699,997. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $155.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday. HSBC boosted 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’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 approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is 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.