GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New $830,000 Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $830,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,074,718,000 after purchasing an additional 415,531 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after purchasing an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,067,000 after purchasing an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after purchasing an additional 766,530 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.82. The company had a trading volume of 6,392,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,852,011. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $152.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.10.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.