Howard Capital Management Group LLC Invests $165,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $165,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.03. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $138.08. The company has a market capitalization of $221.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.