Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,024 shares during the quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.4% in the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 44,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MS traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $90.23. 6,749,801 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,915,022. The company has a market cap of $146.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.73 and its 200-day moving average is $84.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued 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 target price of $97.79.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total value of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.