General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co Sells 19,500 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 20.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,500 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 3.0% of General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. General Pension Society PZU Joint Stock Co's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, 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 sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.87. 6,434,557 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,707,863. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $117.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.41. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $205.14 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. 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.