Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 212.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 251,398 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 170,811 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.87.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS
Morgan Stanley Trading Down 9.7 %
Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $11.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $107.70. The stock had a trading volume of 15,179,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,592,060. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.20. The firm has a market cap of $173.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.
Morgan Stanley Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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