Advyzon Investment Management LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $528,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third 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 valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $2.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.60. The stock had a trading volume of 6,701,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,566,525. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.50. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, 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 research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley 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.