Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 328.0% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 11,295 shares in the last quarter. Associated Banc Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Associated Banc Corp now owns 2,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $234,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 77,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,204,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.59. The company has a market capitalization of $162.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

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.