Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Brighton Jones LLC

Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $2,040,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $597,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $137.85 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $139.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $129.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.61. The company has a market cap of $222.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio 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.