Chicago Capital LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $137.26 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $141.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $221.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.20.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.