Advisory Alpha LLC Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. West Branch Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 300.9% in the 4th quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $328,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 590,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,218,000 after purchasing an additional 45,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesis Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $221.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 1.22 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. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.