Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,436 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.3% of Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $30,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd 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 period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9 %

MS opened at $136.00 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $138.38. 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 has a market cap of $219.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.45.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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 2.72%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.