State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $16.92 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after buying an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $324,118,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.45. 6,170,369 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,694,316. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $122.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.