Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $137.42 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $129.13 and a 200 day moving average of $114.03. The stock has a market cap of $221.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.