Everpar Advisors LLC Acquires 243 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during 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 position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.53.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE MS opened at $135.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.74 and a 200-day moving average of $113.15. 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 has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The firm has a market cap of $218.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.