Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 7,069 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 19.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,286 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,069 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $112.18 on Wednesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $132.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. 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 $180.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

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Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents 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.

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.

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