LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,879,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 223,536 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.12% of Morgan Stanley worth $236,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This 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.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.53.
Get Our Latest Report on MS
Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.2 %
Shares of MS stock traded down $3.77 on Friday, hitting $115.23. 7,347,106 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,528,013. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 46.60%.
About Morgan Stanley
(
Free Report)
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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