1,912 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by Modern Wealth Management LLC

Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $324,118,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,331,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,174,000 after buying an additional 1,230,623 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,661,000 after buying an additional 1,051,189 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.61 and a 200-day moving average of $123.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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.

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.