Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.5% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $133.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $132.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned 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 $131.27.

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.