New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,628,303 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 129,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $204,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0 %

MS stock traded down $2.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.60. 6,701,387 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,566,525. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $84.43 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.50. The company has a market cap of $212.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised 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. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.