Knuff & Co LLC Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Knuff & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 124.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 760 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after acquiring an additional 483,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after buying an additional 766,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $93.64. 5,043,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The stock has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $90.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.87. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Cfra lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 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.