Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 866,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 67,280 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 0.8% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $108,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 367,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,242,000 after purchasing an additional 127,066 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,425 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 122,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,811,000 after buying an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 150,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,646,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MS. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research note on Friday, March 28th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $130.13.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE MS traded up $3.61 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $119.35. The stock had a trading volume of 8,400,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,552,555. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 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.