Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys 693 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 693 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 24,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,075,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 97,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,735 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,040,000. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $128.61 and its 200 day moving average is $112.83. 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. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

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.