Charles Schwab Trust Co Buys 472 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 143.0% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 80,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,157,000 after purchasing an additional 47,544 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 52,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,644,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $251,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $138.08. 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 $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued 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 is currently 46.60%.

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.