Coign Capital Advisors LLC Invests $659,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Coign Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,241 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 4,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 96.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 34,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,578,000 after purchasing an additional 16,865 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $106.38 on Friday. 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 has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.24. The stock has a market cap of $171.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Profile

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.