Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Decreases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 443,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,521 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.8% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $41,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $90.05. 5,393,711 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,885,919. The company has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.56, for a total value of $584,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 97,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,158,297.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 208,155 shares of company stock worth $18,149,314 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Cfra raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.66.

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.