RMR Wealth Builders Has $367,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the quarter. RMR Wealth Builders’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Boston Partners bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $477,765,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 229.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after purchasing an additional 846,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MS traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.64. 4,662,561 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,411,363. The firm has a market cap of $155.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $96.05.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.