Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1,343.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,747 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew 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 worth $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 112,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,758,000 after purchasing an additional 10,107 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 61,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,398,000 after purchasing an additional 8,610 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 57,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,039,000 after purchasing an additional 11,149 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0 %

MS stock opened at $140.70 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $226.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

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.