Ballentine Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $129.05 and a 200-day moving average of $113.77. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.