Strategic Blueprint LLC Has $819,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Strategic Blueprint LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 432 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Mason & Associates Inc boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 3,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $140.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $225.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.67. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.