Groupama Asset Managment Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Groupama Asset Managment cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,532 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $51,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 507.8% during the fourth quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 1,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,782,000. Tempo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,654,000. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 5,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Morgan Stanley News

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.6%

MS opened at $223.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $198.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.49. The company has a market capitalization of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $130.90 and a 52 week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 36.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $170.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. CICC Research raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total transaction of $2,779,935.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.