Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Davis R M Inc.

Davis R M Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 993 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $511,000. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 24.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.5% in the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 3,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $112.18 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.27. The company has a market capitalization of $180.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.