Essential Planning LLC. Makes New $6.77 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new position 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 fund bought 55,120 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,772,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $112.18 on Wednesday. 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 $180.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average 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.

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