Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $771,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,268 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.33 on Wednesday, hitting $95.46. 1,413,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,373,352. 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 market cap of $155.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

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.