Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co Makes New $1.08 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 6,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,083,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 0.6% of Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $173,000. Catalyst Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $844,000. Cambient Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $737,000. McLaughlin Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $763,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $130.90 and a twelve month high of $230.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Key Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Morgan Stanley 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.