Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Position Boosted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $13,845,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.