Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 156,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $477,765,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 53.1% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,929,000 after buying an additional 1,393,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 229.0% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after acquiring an additional 846,266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MS traded up $0.35 on Friday, reaching $92.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,150,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,695,831. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.55 and a 200 day moving average of $85.31. The stock has a market cap of $151.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57.

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 business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 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.