Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 88.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,232 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during 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 lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd 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 position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,927,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $137.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $220.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value 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 $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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven 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.com, the stock presently has an average 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.