Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,439,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 257,901 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.15% of Morgan Stanley worth $306,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Ethic Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 49,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,178,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 934,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,539,000 after buying an additional 99,530 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,080,000 after buying an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:MS opened at $121.89 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.73. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $196.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.