National Pension Service Purchases 40,583 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,022,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40,583 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.12% of Morgan Stanley worth $188,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $97.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,635,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,345,274. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.30. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $97.58. The firm has a market cap of $158.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.