US Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $576,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% in the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,022,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,555,000 after buying an additional 40,583 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 3,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 43,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.1 %

MS traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.04. 3,587,939 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,338,826. 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 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $98.99. The firm has a market cap of $159.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.12 and a 200 day moving average of $86.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 3.47%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.