Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Buys 721 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $466,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $187,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $159.83 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $171.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $160.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.77. The stock has a market cap of $254.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.