Ashburton Jersey Ltd Acquires 1,972 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ashburton Jersey Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.4% of Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Ashburton Jersey Ltd’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $477,765,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $223,596,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 53.1% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,015,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $327,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 229.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,215,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,369,000 after purchasing an additional 846,266 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6 %

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.07. 1,335,584 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,505,294. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $90.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $149.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. HSBC lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.