Constitution Capital LLC Makes New $289,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Constitution Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.53.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE MS opened at $135.80 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.15. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a market capitalization of $218.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

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.