Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $28.07 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,396 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $28,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $115.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.55 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Twelve 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.