Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,619 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,870,683,000 after acquiring an additional 428,956 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley
In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2 %
NYSE:MS traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $119.12. 8,510,663 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,264,426. The stock has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.72 and a 200 day moving average of $121.71. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.
Morgan Stanley Company Profile
(
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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