Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Janus Henderson Group PLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,474,243 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 840,065 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.34% of Morgan Stanley worth $688,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $131.00. 6,273,234 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,695,658. The stock has a market cap of $210.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $114.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.98. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

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.