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

Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 36.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 38,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 128.2% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,185,000 after buying an additional 21,047 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,943 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 625,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,201,000 after buying an additional 3,256 shares in the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $84.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $72.05 and a twelve month high of $100.99. The stock has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.40 and its 200 day moving average is $88.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.19 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Odeon Capital Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $88.75 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $92.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Cfra upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.70, for a total transaction of $189,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,263,835.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 5,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $494,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 118,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,500,126. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alistair Darling sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.70, for a total transaction of $189,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,263,835.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 341,699 shares of company stock valued at $33,143,046 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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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.