Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in 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. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value 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 $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted 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, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $137.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.