Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.85 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $139.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm 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 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.