Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,661,000 after buying an additional 1,051,189 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $89,761,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $119.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.83. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.01 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $192.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This 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 owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.