ARS Investment Partners LLC Purchases 128,810 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7,577.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 130,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 128,810 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.3% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 645.8% in the second quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MS opened at $159.83 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $171.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The stock has a market cap of $254.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.16 and its 200 day moving average is $145.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Company 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.