Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 210 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 52,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.9% of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $140.66 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $226.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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 business 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 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.