Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,671,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $129.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.78. 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 has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $208.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

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.