Bayesian Capital Management LP Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 27,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,495,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $119.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,680,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,372. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.75. 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 one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.