abrdn plc Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

abrdn plc lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,532,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 96,381 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $192,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 253,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,453,000 after buying an additional 15,311 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 20,312 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,117,000 after buying an additional 5,576 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.4% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 32,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,342,000 after acquiring an additional 6,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $2.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $138.97. 5,870,495 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,266,313. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $141.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $130.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.