Aspiriant LLC Acquires 173 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Aspiriant LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $137.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.03. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.