AJOVista LLC Buys Shares of 1,794 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $167,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Boston Partners acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $477,765,000. FMR LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 53.1% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $327,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,065 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 229.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after acquiring an additional 846,266 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Cfra lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $93.64. 5,043,459 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.87.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.