DJE Kapital AG Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

DJE Kapital AG bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 157,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,716,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $274,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 31,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 6,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 375,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,159,000 after acquiring an additional 10,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $133.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $214.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents 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 currently 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.