Opinicus Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,682 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MS traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.83. The company had a trading volume of 4,606,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,720,944. The stock has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.44. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

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.