Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 601,272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $75,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $50,288,000. GM Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Investment House LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 228.9% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 4,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 53,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,724,000 after buying an additional 2,819 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

MS stock opened at $119.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $193.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.71.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

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.