Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Lifted by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 120,200 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 7,407 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $14,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 10,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 491,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $61,827,000 after buying an additional 6,965 shares during the period. Certuity LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 203,121 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,536,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,736,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $140.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,623,068 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,490,618. The company has a market cap of $226.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's fifty day moving average is $132.16 and its 200-day moving average is $119.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.