CX Institutional Buys 465 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 34.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 115,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,089,000 after acquiring an additional 29,575 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 163.8% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 152,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,874,000 after buying an additional 95,000 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $397,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 288,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,023,000 after buying an additional 5,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $20,028,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $137.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $222.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $139.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley 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.