4,414 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by Bay Capital Advisors LLC

Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,414 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $262,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,490,558 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $187,393,000 after buying an additional 65,456 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $3.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.23. 7,347,106 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,527,969. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS 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 issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.