Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 76,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after buying an additional 25,179 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 11.5% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $274,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0 %

MS opened at $133.11 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $121.05. 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 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

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.