Fisher Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,335,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,660,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,927,000. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 50,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,758,000 after acquiring an additional 6,198 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.6% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,671,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $134.69 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $216.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $76.33 and a fifty-two week high of $135.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.94.

Morgan Stanley 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.