Mosaic Financial Group LLC Has $321,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mosaic Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Mosaic Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 122,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,505,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,958,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $188.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.19 and its 200 day moving average is $124.11. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.53.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $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 owned by 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.