Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 934,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $117,523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $597,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,182,000 after buying an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $2.20 on Wednesday, reaching $138.97. 5,870,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,266,313. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $141.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.16 and a 200 day moving average price 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 stock 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.