Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Sells 102,500 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 102,500 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $47,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. 1ST Source Bank boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.36 on Wednesday, reaching $132.45. The stock had a trading volume of 6,113,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,109,260. The business's 50 day moving average is $122.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $212.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business'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 company posted $2.02 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

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.