Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,514,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 8,104 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned approximately 0.09% of Morgan Stanley worth $176,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents 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 that occurred on 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 owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1%

MS stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $131.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,258,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,683,754. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company's 50 day moving average is $120.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.25. The company has a market capitalization of $211.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.23.

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.