Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 7,207 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,279 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,207 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $31,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 129.2% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 7,666 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 118,321 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,875,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares during the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $6,412,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $810,000. Finally, Broyhill Asset Management bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm'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 value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group increased 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $109.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,231,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,649,506. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.55 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $119.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.45. The stock has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

About Morgan Stanley

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.