Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,500 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 170,133 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,520,000 after buying an additional 10,082 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.8% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 24,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,417,000 after buying an additional 2,418 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.6% during the second quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 13,703 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $6,495,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.1% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 111,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,810,000 after buying an additional 6,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $137.78. 12,389,736 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,932,170. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.31. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $138.08. The company has a market cap of $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.