Fiduciary Alliance LLC Purchases 3,735 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,735 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.2% of Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $123.28. 760,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,145,672. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.