Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 913 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. M&R Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Corton Capital Inc. now owns 6,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $95.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $90.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.30. The stock has a market cap of $155.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.93.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.