Congress Asset Management Co. Purchases Shares of 14,533 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,827,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $139.19 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.67. The company has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.41 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.