Jupiter Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,298 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Jupiter Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,226 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,298 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 3.0% of Jupiter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.1%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $126.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

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.