Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 523,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $65,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.17 on Tuesday, hitting $111.28. The company had a trading volume of 3,075,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,720,011. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $121.92 and a 200-day moving average of $124.45. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.49 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 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 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $129.00.

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.