Lmcg Investments LLC Has $10.16 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 143.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,544 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. 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 purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $129.05 and a 200-day moving average of $113.77. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $138.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

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.