2,317 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $138.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,870,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,266,313. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.67. 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 market cap of $223.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business 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%. The business's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % 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.

About Morgan Stanley

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.