Reik & CO. LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Reik & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank raised its position 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 worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $220.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.46. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.