Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $202,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $140,077,000 after purchasing an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,850,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.91. 2,917,839 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,616,650. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $127.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a market cap of $204.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

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.