Prudential PLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,765 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $19,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered their price objective 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. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $129.87.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS
Morgan Stanley Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.72 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $99.20. 6,843,181 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,711,876. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $126.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.42. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.
Insider Activity
In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.
Morgan Stanley Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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