Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Lowered by Chatham Capital Group Inc.

Chatham Capital Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,045 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $324,118,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0%

MS stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.89. 5,004,376 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,678,502. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $118.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 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.