Perigon Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 70.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 46,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,385 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents 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 company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $129.48 and its 200-day moving average is $115.04. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $139.04. The firm has a market cap of $220.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.