Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $2,388,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 8,024 shares during the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 163,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,249,000 after purchasing an additional 10,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One SA PTY Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,514,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,155 shares of company stock worth $16,723,094 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $91.48. 3,620,682 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,841,558. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $95.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.85. The firm has a market cap of $148.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.79.

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.