Vise Technologies Inc. Purchases 9,527 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 9,527 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,845,895,000 after acquiring an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,870,683,000 after acquiring an additional 428,956 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0%

MS stock traded down $1.35 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.86. 1,474,734 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,687,283. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The firm's 50 day moving average is $117.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.46. The stock has a market cap of $205.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.