Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 451 shares during the quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 8,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,016,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. Keel Point LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 23,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of MS opened at $120.23 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $115.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% 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.