Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 87.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,120 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $20,400,000 after purchasing an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,513,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 212.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 187,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $21,910,000 after buying an additional 127,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

MS traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $143.97. 5,373,574 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,962,769. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.30. 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 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.