Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 329,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,394 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $41,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $109.06 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.55 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.45. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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 10,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,665 shares of company stock valued at $5,288,079 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% 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.