Empowered Funds LLC Buys 11,249 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,249 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 30,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,836,000 after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,316,000 after buying an additional 2,673 shares in the last quarter. MWA Asset Management bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $893,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MS opened at $139.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.35. The firm has a market cap of $225.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.