Xponance Inc. Purchases 10,648 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,648 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after acquiring an additional 22,095 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction 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 $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,155 shares of company stock valued at $16,723,094. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $90.96. The company had a trading volume of 854,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,807,353. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $147.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.85.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Cfra boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.79.

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.