Vident Advisory LLC Has $2.98 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $2,024,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 426.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 118,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $14,954,000 after acquiring an additional 96,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $2.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $128.75. 1,881,609 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,441,118. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $206.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.44.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.