Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 267,728 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,844,090 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 267,728 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.80% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,615,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 4,674 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. Citigroup dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE MS traded down $1.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $118.44. 5,737,551 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,694,326. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $114.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 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 firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.