World Equity Group Inc. Invests $316,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

World Equity Group Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 2,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Lansing Street Advisors lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Lansing Street Advisors now owns 12,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,288,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 5,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 17,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $132.38 and its 200-day moving average is $120.41. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $209.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.