MML Investors Services LLC Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 299,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,045 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $3,240,089,000 after buying an additional 604,024 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth 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. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, reaching $115.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,013,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,662,426. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.55 and a 1 year high of $142.03. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $117.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.45. The company has a market capitalization of $187.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.