Kestra Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 741 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd 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. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $134.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $132.28 and a 200-day moving average of $119.50. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.