Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Buys 1,361 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 168.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after acquiring an additional 415,531 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position 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 buying an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position 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 buying an additional 766,530 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $92.83 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.