Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,990,922 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 185,846 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Morgan Stanley worth $348,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE MS traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $140.64. The stock had a trading volume of 7,240,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,686,691. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company's 50-day moving average price is $126.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.54.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $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.