Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:MS opened at $120.49 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $194.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.69. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

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.