Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Boosted by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 117.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,156 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares during the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $354,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 136.4% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 37,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 21,921 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 25,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,514,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.61 and its 200-day moving average is $112.83. The stock has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Eleven equities 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.07.

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.