Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 17,893 Morgan Stanley $MS

Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 17,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,844,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the second quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 13,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $172.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $181.98. The firm has a market cap of $274.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.39.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.40%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.77.

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.