Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 499,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $62,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $119.12 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.12. The company has a market capitalization of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.