Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 212.0% during the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 251,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,613,000 after buying an additional 170,811 shares during the period. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares during the period. StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.7% during the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 32,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,071 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 60,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MS. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $115.82 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $186.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal 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 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.