Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 37.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,401 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $129.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.78.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.