Summit Securities Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 150.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 sale, the insider now 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 corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $115.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

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.