Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 4,783 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $128.61 and its 200 day moving average is $112.83. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.