RWA Wealth Partners LLC Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 41.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,272 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,066,000. Intrust Bank NA increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 16,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $4,516,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.3 %

MS opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.53.

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.