Griffin Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $139.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.