507 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 54,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,681,000 after purchasing an additional 20,871 shares during the period. Cadence Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.3% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 73,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,700,000 after buying an additional 6,303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $119.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.06 and a 200-day moving average of $123.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

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.