Brave Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brave Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after buying an additional 10,632,735 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $477,765,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $451,711,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 in the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price (down from $102.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded up $0.66 during trading on Thursday, hitting $94.16. The stock had a trading volume of 6,624,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,981,474. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.16. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $153.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.49% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.76%.

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.