Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 159,388 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 141.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 159,388 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $14,093,000. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $602,000. KKM Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 78.9% in the 4th quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 4,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 29,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.08. 6,300,069 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,704,600. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $211.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.