54,377 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 54,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,836,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for 5.2% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $7.69 on Monday, hitting $111.61. The stock had a trading volume of 16,760,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,279,502. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock's 50 day moving average is $132.28 and its 200-day moving average is $122.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

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.