Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Makes New $6.84 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 54,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,836,000. Morgan Stanley comprises about 5.2% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $324,118,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $119.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.12. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.