Trivest Advisors Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 400,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,288,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.3% of Trivest Advisors Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $118.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio 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.