Todd Asset Management LLC Has $48.61 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Todd Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 386,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 44,511 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.2% of Todd Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Todd Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $48,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $209.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $84.43 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. 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 earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.