Axiom Investors LLC DE Purchases Shares of 1,556,964 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Axiom Investors LLC DE bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,556,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $195,742,000. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.4% of Axiom Investors LLC DE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned about 0.10% of Morgan Stanley as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 122,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,811,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 3,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,505,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth $46,067,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $115.23 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.97. 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 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

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.