Stonebrook Private Inc. Takes $232,000 Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Stonebrook Private Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after acquiring an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $362,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $162.45 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $94.33 and a 52 week high of $171.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

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.