Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $46.29 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 367,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,287,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its holdings 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 valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 596,932 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $62,224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,154 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 32.7% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 99,995 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,424,000 after buying an additional 24,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 5.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $6.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $105.53. The stock had a trading volume of 4,529,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,780,710. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $123.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $170.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.87.

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.