Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 685 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 79,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,039,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. Bay Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $555,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $262,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $125.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.51. The stock has a market cap of $202.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.95%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 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 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.