Florida Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $234,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE MS opened at $125.25 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $202.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was 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 insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.