Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 53.0% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 367,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,242,000 after purchasing an additional 127,066 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 122,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,811,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 150,096 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,646,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % 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 3.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $115.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $185.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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 net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, March 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.53.

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.