Wedmont Private Capital Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New Hampshire boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,642 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.