Acorn Creek Capital LLC Makes New $226,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Acorn Creek Capital LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $139.04. The stock has a market cap of $220.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $129.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.