National Pension Service Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

National Pension Service lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,313,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 57,121 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.14% of Morgan Stanley worth $290,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,755,000 after acquiring an additional 25,179 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.7% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 62,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after buying an additional 5,502 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the third quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.3 %

MS opened at $129.58 on Wednesday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.65. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $84.43 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $208.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley 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.