Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV Lowers Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $131.00 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $210.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.