Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 159,065 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,925,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,065 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $242,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,845,895,000 after purchasing an additional 696,646 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after acquiring an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after acquiring an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,396,000 after acquiring an additional 47,699 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $122.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $130.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

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.