Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $2.12 Billion Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,879,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,289,863 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $2,122,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 23,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 212.0% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 251,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,613,000 after buying an additional 170,811 shares during the last quarter. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $277,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 32,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 report on Friday, March 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:MS opened at $115.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G 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. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $128.75 and a 200 day moving average of $124.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.