Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $4.55 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 622.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,033 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,913,000 after purchasing an additional 766,530 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $93.64 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.30 and a 200-day moving average of $85.98. The company has a market cap of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. 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 Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.