Focused Investors LLC Sells 34,800 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Focused Investors LLC decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,277,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 34,800 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up about 4.8% of Focused Investors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Focused Investors LLC owned 0.08% of Morgan Stanley worth $148,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 4,372 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 751 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 257.1% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 5,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 2,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $136.69.

Insider Activity

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

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.69. 10,507,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,674,052. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $145.16. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.92.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.