Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 593,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,179 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $69,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $134.04 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $215.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.21.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.