Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Invests $135,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $135,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.53.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $135.80 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The stock has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid 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.