Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Raised by Zacks Investment Management

Zacks Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,662 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. Citigroup cut 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, March 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.94 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $112.32. The company had a trading volume of 8,221,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,888,841. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.55 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The business's 50-day moving average is $118.38 and its 200 day moving average is $124.48. The company has a market cap of $181.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.