Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Cut by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,774 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $33,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $858,573,000 after acquiring an additional 242,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $672,969,000 after purchasing an additional 57,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Twelve research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $115.63.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $0.08 on Wednesday, hitting $131.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,507,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,076,921. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $76.33 and a 12 month high of $136.24. The stock's 50-day moving average is $118.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $211.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

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.