Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 57.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 941,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 345,261 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $118,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,385,396,000 after purchasing an additional 47,699 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,365 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,972,000 after purchasing an additional 5,038 shares in the last quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,619 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, hitting $119.12. The stock had a trading volume of 8,511,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,251,202. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The business's 50 day moving average is $132.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.
Check Out Our Latest Report on MS
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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