Sherman Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $147,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 31,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.3% in the third quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 6,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $705,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 484,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,538,000 after purchasing an additional 12,092 shares during the period. Finally, Phillips Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 52.4% in the third quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.0 %

MS opened at $133.11 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.22. 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 has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $214.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, 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 corporate insiders.

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.