Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Acquired by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.5% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,441,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Powers Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 3,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha flagged that Morgan Stanley was upgraded to Buy after its strong first-quarter results, reinforcing the view that recent earnings momentum is still supporting the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also noted that Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) ahead of the GTA VI release, underscoring continued active equity-research influence and a generally constructive tone from the bank’s analysts. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s own recent stock commentary said MS has delivered a strong one-year rally, with investors still debating valuation versus earnings power rather than reacting to any single new company-specific surprise. Article Title

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MS opened at $201.18 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $123.88 and a one year high of $203.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.22.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.