Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Lowered by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81,401 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $62,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 300,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,360,000 after acquiring an additional 11,710 shares in the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,066,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.19 and a 200-day moving average of $124.11. 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 firm has a market cap of $188.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents 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 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.