FIL Ltd Has $281.41 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 66.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,238,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 892,929 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd owned approximately 0.14% of Morgan Stanley worth $281,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded up $1.46 on Friday, reaching $108.04. The company had a trading volume of 10,570,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,728,008. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.49 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $174.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.52 and a 200-day moving average of $124.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.