Schroder Investment Management Group Has $915.73 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 50.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.9% of Schroder Investment Management Group's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.45% of Morgan Stanley worth $915,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $11,066,000. Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 16,748 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,106,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,516,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 19,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,455,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 113,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,253,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 7.6 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $9.01 during trading on Thursday, reaching $110.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,747,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,559,691. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $85.01 and a one year high of $142.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $128.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.20. The company has a market cap of $177.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $129.87.

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.