2,100 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by Chung Wu Investment Group LLC

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,385,396,000 after buying an additional 47,699 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $123.75 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $132.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $199.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.