AXA S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,892 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 91,800 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $35,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley
In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.6 %
Shares of MS traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $119.09. The company had a trading volume of 4,680,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,686,299. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $114.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.75.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.
Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MS
Morgan Stanley Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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