Charles Schwab Trust Co Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $138.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.77. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.