Kovack Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,609 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 75.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $765,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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 research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $129.23 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $208.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.