4,273 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by PUREfi Wealth LLC

PUREfi Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $139.19 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.20. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.41 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio 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.