Black Swift Group LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Black Swift Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $324,118,000. First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $222,000. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 35,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 351,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $123.75 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.90 and a 200-day moving average of $121.72.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 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 Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley 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.