Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.8% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 165.2% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 7,492 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 20,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,038,000 after buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 15,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $138.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 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 dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.