Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by HB Wealth Management LLC

HB Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. 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 $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.58. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.