Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 57.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 941,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 345,261 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $118,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $215,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,316,000. Umpqua Bank lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 13,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $123.75 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $132.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.72. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.