Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 10,056 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,056 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley 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.