Norden Group LLC Buys 132,856 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Norden Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2,355.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 132,856 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 3,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 1,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 3,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

MS opened at $100.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.92. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.48.

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.