Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,279 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reduced 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. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reduced 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. 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 report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $132.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm's 50-day moving average is $123.65 and its 200 day moving average is $125.21. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm's revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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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