denkapparat Operations GmbH Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,188 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $527,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.53.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company'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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

MS stock traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $116.85. 4,082,952 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,520,940. The company has a market cap of $188.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average is $129.61 and its 200-day moving average is $123.97. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.