Marcum Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after buying an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $128.61 and a 200 day moving average of $112.83. 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 cap of $199.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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.