AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MS. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.59. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. 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, 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 analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

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.