AA Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in 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 last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $140.05 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $141.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. 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’s 50-day moving average is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.