1,700 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Acquired by ARS Investment Partners LLC

ARS Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in 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. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.40.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $138.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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