Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.1% of River Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $138.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.