Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Decreased by Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,374 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,261 shares during the quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in 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 lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during 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 during the period. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve investment 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MS traded up $0.76 on Wednesday, reaching $119.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,680,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,372. The firm's fifty day moving average is $114.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap 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 has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

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.