Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 33,819 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 455,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,819 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $57,319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $230,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 16,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 9,090 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $521,000. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.1% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 88,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,202,000 after buying an additional 7,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.59. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 firm’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 value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, 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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.