Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys Shares of 16,100 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 16,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,024,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in 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 raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% in 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. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. Citigroup cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of 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 cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. 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, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $127.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,434,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,707,904. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $117.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.44.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.