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Machina Capital S.A.S. Acquires New Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,403 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,774,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

MS traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $143.00. 3,462,907 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,791,441. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.42 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.90%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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