Nilsine Partners LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after acquiring an additional 569,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $138.49 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.26. The firm has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $139.04.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.