Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Boosts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 168.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Cfra upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $92.83 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued 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 3.66%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 252,355 shares of company stock worth $22,356,602. 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.