Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 44.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.26. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $225.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.