Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 163,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,648 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $15,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBW Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.2% during the second quarter. NBW Capital LLC now owns 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% during the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 2,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the third quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 90 days, insiders have sold 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $90.96. 854,683 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,807,353. The company has a market cap of $147.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.