Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 6,269 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 123,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632,735 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $477,765,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $451,711,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $89.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.18.

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.