IFG Advisory LLC Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after acquiring an additional 44,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $96.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective (down previously from $102.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $93.50 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.13 and a 200-day moving average of $84.09. The firm has a market cap of $152.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The company had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 65.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,158,297.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total transaction of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.