Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC Buys 1,044 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $138.35 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $141.48. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $129.97 and a 200-day moving average of $116.14. The firm has a market cap of $222.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.