Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Boosted by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,491,000 after acquiring an additional 5,502 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 17,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,827,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $222,000. Finally, Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $225,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $131.60 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $84.43 and a 1-year high of $142.03. 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 50 day moving average price of $132.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley 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.