Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,879,506 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,289,863 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $2,122,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,910,200,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,385,396,000 after buying an additional 47,699 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded down $8.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $99.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,867,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,660,242. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's 50 day moving average is $127.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.25. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 3.71%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley 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.