Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Has $70.42 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 603,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,218 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. 1ST Source Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the first quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Ten 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.25. 3,646,848 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,680,125. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $145.16. The firm has a market cap of $228.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.30. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $131.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.