Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Acquires Shares of 62,199 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 62,199 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,820,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, 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. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $115.34. 1,941,472 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,510,117. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $186.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company's fifty day moving average price is $129.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.