Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $894.96 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,670,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 66,029 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.48% of Morgan Stanley worth $894,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $1,910,200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MS. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $133.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $144.50. The company had a trading volume of 3,974,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,693,141. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $231.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $129.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.05. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $144.56.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.