Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.3 %

MS traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $95.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,413,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,373,352. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.69 and its 200-day moving average is $86.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $155.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.