Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Has $543,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $477,765,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 53.1% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,929,000 after buying an additional 1,393,065 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 229.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after buying an additional 846,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

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.