Operose Advisors LLC Has $925,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Operose Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 531 shares during the quarter. Operose Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $1,910,200,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $109.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $121.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.45. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $85.49 and a 1 year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.00.

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.