Clearstead Advisors LLC Buys 179 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $281,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 68.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,083,000 after buying an additional 7,514,505 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,232,000 after buying an additional 1,566,606 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,955,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $757,219,000 after buying an additional 166,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,303,000 after buying an additional 67,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% during the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,163,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,806,000 after buying an additional 539,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.93, for a total transaction of $24,232,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,112,348 shares in the company, valued at $107,819,891.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 190,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,706,921.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $89.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The stock has a market cap of $151.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $72.05 and a 1 year high of $100.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 50.49%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.