E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 3,071 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 707,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $88,979,000 after purchasing an additional 199,465 shares during the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $264,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 103.7% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 7,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 3,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $119.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.56 and a 200 day moving average of $121.97. The firm has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.