Meridian Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 2,949 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Meridian Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,949 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $371,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.33.

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Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.5 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $3.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $119.17. The company had a trading volume of 8,239,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,233,594. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.47. The company has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.