Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 203,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.8% of Certuity LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $25,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $137.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.70. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % 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.

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.