Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Has $2.11 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven 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, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $111.49 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $179.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $131.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company 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%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.