Howe & Rusling Inc. Grows Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.0% of Howe & Rusling Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.0% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the first quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 13,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wealth Partners boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.0% during the first quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Dbs Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $162.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $171.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $258.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.