1,610 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC

Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $136.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.30 and a 200-day moving average of $114.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.