True North Advisors LLC Has $3.60 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

True North Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1,025.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,055 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 0.8% of True North Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 4th 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 period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities 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, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

MS stock opened at $136.00 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.24 and a 200-day moving average of $114.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $138.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.