Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 253,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,453,000 after purchasing an additional 15,311 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $138.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $141.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.14. 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 (NYSE:MS) last announced its 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.