Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Purchases Shares of 102,023 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 102,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,514,000. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.4% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,801,000 after acquiring an additional 22,095 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 2,660 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $90.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,656,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,871,707. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The firm has a market cap of $147.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Cfra upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

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.