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

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $27,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $136.69.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $143.06. 5,622,839 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,692,254. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.60. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $145.16.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.