Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Trilogy Capital Inc.

Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 367.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 20,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,079 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 2,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $138.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.67. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.