Investment House LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Investment House LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.0% during the third quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 77,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,070,000 after purchasing an additional 5,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

MS stock opened at $119.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.71. 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 company has a market capitalization of $193.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company 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.