1,858 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Berry Wealth Group LP

Berry Wealth Group LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after buying an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during 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. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MS opened at $138.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $222.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.07. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, research 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $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 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.