Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 564,663 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,389 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $70,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,385,396,000 after acquiring an additional 47,699 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS traded down $3.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $119.17. 8,239,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,234,235. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.50. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01, 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.