Bank of New Hampshire Acquires 93 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 644,671 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,656,000 after acquiring an additional 22,482 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 32,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $221,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2,051.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 143,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,911,000 after buying an additional 136,485 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.04. 384,036 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,986,470. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.80. 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 company has a market capitalization of $204.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Citigroup upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.13.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.