VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Invests $98,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.94 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $193.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.