Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $213,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 5,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % 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. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $141.06 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $130.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.83. 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 has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.