L.M. Kohn & Company Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

L.M. Kohn & Company increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 220,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,945,000 after purchasing an additional 8,902 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 15,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,373 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,077,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,536,000 after purchasing an additional 343,234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $139.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.41 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.