Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,259 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MS opened at $139.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $225.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $142.03. The stock 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 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.