Sierra Ocean LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $71,927,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:MS opened at $139.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.41 and a one year high of $142.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $131.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.