Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $2.16 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WP Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 15,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.5% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 56,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,048,000 after purchasing an additional 24,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $131.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $132.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.77. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently 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.