Matrix Trust Co Buys Shares of 16,228 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $123.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.63. The stock has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.