Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Sells 196,331 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 888,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 196,331 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $111,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.73 on Monday, hitting $116.06. 2,995,594 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,514,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business's fifty day moving average is $129.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.97. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.