Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Boosts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. 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 valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $324,118,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.7% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,331,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $293,174,000 after buying an additional 1,230,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,661,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This 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 through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.21%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.