4,363 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Bought by GFG Capital LLC

GFG Capital LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $549,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 36,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 572,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $72,504,000 after acquiring an additional 68,253 shares during the period. Finally, Aries Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $136.96 on Friday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $131.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.07. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.69 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.