Prudential Financial Inc. Has $158.68 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,807,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,743 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Morgan Stanley worth $158,683,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. X Square Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the first quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 3,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Odeon Capital Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.06.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $85.75. 4,981,800 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,323,016. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $74.67 and a one year high of $100.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.29 and a 200 day moving average of $87.62. The company has a market cap of $142.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. The firm had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total value of $11,898,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at $96,269,930.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total transaction of $11,898,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at $96,269,930.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 1,049,889 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.45, for a total transaction of $9,921,451.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,456,881 shares in the company, valued at $79,917,525.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,418,989 shares of company stock valued at $44,556,447. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.