Boston Financial Mangement LLC Acquires 3,315 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 67.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 410.9% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 12,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,583,000 after acquiring an additional 10,125 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $528,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 484,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 44,456 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,829,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $134.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $84.43 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $132.28 and a 200-day moving average of $119.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.