Sound Income Strategies LLC Has $92,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 36.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 37.3% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 39,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 104,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,240,000 after purchasing an additional 27,536 shares in the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.3 %

MS opened at $84.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.40 and a 200 day moving average of $88.87. The company has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $72.05 and a 12 month high of $100.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were paid a $0.775 dividend. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Cfra raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Odeon Capital Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $88.75 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $4,358,515.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,706,921.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.