Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third 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 last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MS shares. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MS opened at $141.06 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $141.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.83. The stock has a market cap of $227.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.