Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 33,819 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 33,819 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $57,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % 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 corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $116.85. 7,616,331 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,532,304. The company has a market cap of $188.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.97. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Morgan Stanley 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.