Genesis Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Genesis Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $137.42 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.03. The stock has a market cap of $221.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. 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 twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley 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.