Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Annex Advisory Services LLC

Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 15.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 39,186 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.0% of Annex Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Annex Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $34,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after purchasing an additional 604,024 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th 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 grew its holdings 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 worth $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.8%

MS stock traded up $2.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $130.53. 6,193,141 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,685,193. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 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 quarter. 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.