Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 2,260 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,257 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded down $2.51 on Thursday, hitting $111.49. The company had a trading volume of 7,433,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,310,355. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $179.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $131.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm'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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.27.

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.