Tradewinds LLC. Acquires 3,104 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tradewinds LLC. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 2.4% of Tradewinds LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MS opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. 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 $188.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.