Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,890,245 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.88% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,774,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.38 on Friday, hitting $115.98. The stock had a trading volume of 5,013,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,661,995. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.55 and a one year high of $142.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $116.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.51. The company has a market cap of $187.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $130.50.

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.