Capital International Investors Has $3.77 Billion Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Capital International Investors reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,984,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,011 shares during the period. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,769,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Sarl raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 44,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,609,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Alexis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $404,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 9,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $109.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $120.10 and its 200 day moving average is $124.28. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $89.74 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.50.

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.