Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Purchased by Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 76,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 3.3% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares in the last quarter. Tlwm lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $362,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

MS opened at $164.99 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $262.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.