Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 174,425 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 493,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 174,425 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $62,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,720,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,688,094. The stock's 50 day moving average is $117.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.46. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $205.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Evercore ISI cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.