Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,699 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,385,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,972,000 after acquiring an additional 5,038 shares during the last quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,235,000 after acquiring an additional 4,619 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 2,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $128.88 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $84.43 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $207.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $133.08 and its 200 day moving average is $121.57. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, HSBC cut 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 research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.