Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. Acquires 566 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 49.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after acquiring an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 4.0 %

MS stock opened at $135.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.15. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24.

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 company 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%. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

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.