Toroso Investments LLC Buys 714 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,446 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 714 shares during the quarter. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,083,000 after buying an additional 7,514,505 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $451,711,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.3% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,183,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757,682 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 152.3% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,500,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.48% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $84.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.84. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $72.05 and a 1 year high of $100.99. The company has a market capitalization of $141.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.73% and a return on equity of 12.06%. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.775 per share. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at $33,824,933.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 15,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total value of $1,455,794.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 323,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,110,887.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total transaction of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 348,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Cfra upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.