CWA Asset Management Group LLC Purchases 346 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $61,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $641,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $730,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $127.83 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $205.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.13. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.80.

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.