Stonegate Investment Group LLC Has $12.50 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 34.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 115,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,089,000 after purchasing an additional 29,575 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.6% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 211,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,528,000 after buying an additional 41,660 shares during the period. Silver Lake Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 101,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,906,000 after buying an additional 3,777 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $129.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.04. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $139.04. 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 $220.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.