KBC Group NV Sells 297,210 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

KBC Group NV reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 38.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 481,720 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 297,210 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $56,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% 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 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of MS stock opened at $140.64 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $126.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. 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.

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