Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $1 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $109.04 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $121.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.45. 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 12 month low of $85.49 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $175.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.