US Asset Management LLC Has $914,000 Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

US Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 34.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,832 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,020 shares during the period. US Asset Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after buying an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Ten 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.69.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

MS traded up $0.44 on Wednesday, reaching $141.57. 4,836,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,011,179. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The company has a market cap of $227.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

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

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.