Kathmere Capital Management LLC Buys 452 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. San Luis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 33,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,166,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $397,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $135.80 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $218.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average is $113.15.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.