Westmount Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Westmount Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $123.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,642,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,431,593. 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 company has a market cap of $198.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.63. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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 business 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 analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.