DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $3.25 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,680 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,755,000 after purchasing an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 253,773 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,453,000 after buying an additional 15,311 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,812 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $214,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 11,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of MS traded up $2.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.97. 5,870,495 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,266,313. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 2.66%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.