Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 510 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 510 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $3,962,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 77,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,700,000 after purchasing an additional 11,249 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 30,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,316,000 after buying an additional 2,673 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

MS stock opened at $139.88 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.