Arkadios Wealth Advisors Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 608 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 15,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after acquiring an additional 6,204 shares in the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 20.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 142,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,901,000 after purchasing an additional 24,554 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.78 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.77. 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 PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

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.