Summit Securities Group LLC Acquires 900 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 150.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $11,066,000. Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 16,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $4,516,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 19,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.78. 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 $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

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.