Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 229.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 846,266 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $113,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 415,531 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $956,566,000. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $904,714,000 after buying an additional 10,632,735 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on MS shares. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.78 on Thursday, reaching $90.86. 1,962,086 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,847,676. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 1.80 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. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.