Carnegie Investment Counsel Purchases New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 9,459 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.7% during the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,116 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.9% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 3,484 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 89,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 526,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,137,000 after buying an additional 8,260 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.67. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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 report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.40.

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.