Private Wealth Partners LLC Buys 4,723 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,723 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 7,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $369,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 10,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 539,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,034,000 after acquiring an additional 12,897 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MS traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.83. 4,606,109 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,720,944. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.