Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,144,625 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 29,586 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $133,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $141.08. The stock had a trading volume of 8,034,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,682,683. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $126.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.51. The firm has a market cap of $226.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.28.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 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.