Surience Private Wealth LLC Makes New $4.45 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Surience Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 35,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,446,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 5.7% of Surience Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $579,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $131.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.02. The stock has a market cap of $211.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.