Essex Savings Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Essex Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $1,195,000. Surience Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,446,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 28,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brave Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 5.2 %

MS stock opened at $131.08 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.74 and its 200 day moving average is $113.02. The company has a market capitalization of $211.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

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.