8,871 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by bLong Financial LLC

bLong Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,115,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 0.9% of bLong Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 220,114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,945,000 after purchasing an additional 8,902 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,871,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 13,579 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 1,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm'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 owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $140.70. 3,623,068 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,490,618. The company has a market cap of $226.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.25.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.27.

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.