Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 6.84% of Morgan Stanley worth $13,845,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 66,871 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,971,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 18,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 179,126 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,672,000 after acquiring an additional 9,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 50,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,238,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

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Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $3.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $119.17. 8,239,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,233,594. The business's 50-day moving average price is $130.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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 was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.