Waterfront Wealth Inc. Acquires 139 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. NBW Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Platte River Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Platte River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.08. 9,533,416 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,944,244. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.81. The company has a market cap of $146.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cfra lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.13.

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.