North Star Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,077 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS traded down $0.80 on Friday, hitting $127.36. 1,429,730 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,679,601. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $204.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock's fifty day moving average is $117.43 and its 200-day moving average is $125.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.