Titan Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 5,383 Morgan Stanley $MS

Titan Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,718,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,253,554,000 after buying an additional 1,361,940 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 103,854,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,437,334,000 after acquiring an additional 539,544 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,321,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,343,523,000 after acquiring an additional 167,487 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,070,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,786,350,000 after acquiring an additional 534,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,018,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,441,505,000 after acquiring an additional 524,189 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MS stock opened at $223.69 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $130.90 and a 12 month high of $230.47. The company has a market cap of $352.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $198.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.49.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 36.23%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 over the last three months. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $153.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.35.

About Morgan Stanley

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.