Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $8.52 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 67,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.0% of Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on 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 increased their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $137.17 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.46. The firm has a market cap of $220.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.