Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 28,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,621,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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 boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $3.47 on Friday, hitting $120.23. The company had a trading volume of 6,894,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,676,887. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $115.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $193.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.