Fiduciary Alliance LLC Purchases 3,735 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 97,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,735 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.2% of Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $123.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 760,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,145,672. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day moving average is $112.63. 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 cap of $198.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

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.