Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 103.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,185 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.13.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $119.35 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $192.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.20. 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 (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.