Titan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 5,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $956,000.
Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 69.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 8,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,263,000 after purchasing an additional 3,661 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 90.9% during the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 263,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,127,000 after purchasing an additional 15,623 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 52,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $221.00 to $197.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.35.
Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley
In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.6%
Shares of MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $198.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $130.90 and a 1-year high of $230.47.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.
Key Morgan Stanley News
Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
- Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
- Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
- Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.
About Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.
The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.
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