Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC Buys 235 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Spectrum Wealth Counsel LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,679,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.0 %

MS stock opened at $133.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.05. The company has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. 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 has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.