Pamalican Asset Management Ltd Purchases Shares of 35,900 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pamalican Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 35,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,513,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.0% of Pamalican Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3,067.9% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 22,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 22,150 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.0% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.8% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $915,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 295 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 analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was 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.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.03. The stock had a trading volume of 7,931,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,724,834. The stock has a market cap of $161.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company's 50 day moving average price is $126.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.42. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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