Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Invests $7.82 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 62,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,820,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 64,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,116,000 after acquiring an additional 10,056 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 77,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,730,000 after buying an additional 18,565 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 822,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $103,370,000 after buying an additional 13,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $122.17 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.50. The stock has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 yield of 3.03%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America upped 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.