560 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by R Squared Ltd

R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.2% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 6,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 253,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,453,000 after purchasing an additional 15,311 shares during the period. Finally, Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 9,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $138.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.90 and a 200-day moving average of $115.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 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 dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.