Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Raised by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,624 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,182 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.97 on Monday, hitting $137.78. The company had a trading volume of 12,389,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,932,170. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

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.