Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 52.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,097 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $129.58 on Wednesday. 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 $208.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.42 and a 200 day moving average of $120.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.