Focus Partners Wealth Purchases 99,291 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 132.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 174,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,291 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,707.9% in the 4th quarter. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 442,733 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,660,000 after purchasing an additional 435,110 shares during the period. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 4,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,439,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $306,677,000 after acquiring an additional 257,901 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,400,000 after acquiring an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 49,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MS opened at $121.66 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $114.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.84. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% 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.