Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during 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 buying an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $71,927,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $3.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $131.30. 2,813,218 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,445,805. The firm has a market cap of $211.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. 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 50-day simple moving average of $132.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.50.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.