Mosley Wealth Management Acquires 6,009 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mosley Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 113.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,291 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,009 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.0% of Mosley Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Mosley Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $243,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $60,797,000. Umpqua Bank grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 13,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,702,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 564,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,990,000 after acquiring an additional 19,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,331,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $120.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.97. 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 has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.60.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 company 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.