5,082 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,082 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,879,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $236,305,000 after purchasing an additional 223,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blueprint Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $3.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $115.23. The company had a trading volume of 7,347,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,527,969. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $129.61 and its 200-day moving average is $123.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, 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 results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.