Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE MS opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.61 and a 200-day moving average of $112.83. 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 Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.