Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 274 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,910,200,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,118,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $195,742,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $115.82 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $128.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.23. The stock has a market cap of $186.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.73.

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.