South Dakota Investment Council Takes $401,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

South Dakota Investment Council purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 4,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $92.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 252,355 shares of company stock valued at $22,356,602. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.