Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,306,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 573,402 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.01% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,902,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 257.1% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered 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 note on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $136.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:MS traded down $1.90 on Wednesday, reaching $139.69. The stock had a trading volume of 10,608,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,674,059. The company has a market cap of $224.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm's fifty day moving average is $133.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.92. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.