Allianz SE Buys New Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 87,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,066,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,910,200,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,385,396,000 after acquiring an additional 47,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.53.

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.