D Orazio & Associates Inc. Invests $211,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 137,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,306,000 after buying an additional 6,202 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $335,000. Finally, JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.8 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.88 on Friday. 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 PE 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $130.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.