Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,889,322 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,221 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.18% of Morgan Stanley worth $363,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,385,396,000 after acquiring an additional 47,699 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded down $11.57 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $107.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,179,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,592,060. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.20. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03. 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 company has a market cap of $173.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.87.

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.