HB Wealth Management LLC Has $6.14 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

HB Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 12,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $1,242,000. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Somerset Trust Co grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 15,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 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 issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.