Groupama Asset Managment Buys 170,811 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 212.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 251,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170,811 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America increased 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. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $188.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $129.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.11.

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 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.