Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 119.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,766 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 115,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,089,000 after purchasing an additional 29,575 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 163.8% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 152,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,874,000 after acquiring an additional 95,000 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $397,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $8,388,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 288,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.87. The company has a market cap of $222.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $139.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.