Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $202,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after buying an additional 9,459 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 26.7% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,116 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 526,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,137,000 after purchasing an additional 8,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $138.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given 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 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.