Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Boosted by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 96.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,507 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 170,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,885,000 after purchasing an additional 11,913 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 71.1% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 14,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,825 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 85.2% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 335,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,407,000 after purchasing an additional 154,372 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.07.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.09. The company had a trading volume of 7,003,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,510,051. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $105.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $98.37 and its 200-day moving average is $92.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 over the last ninety days. 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.