Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 146.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,048 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,318 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $324,118,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $915,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453,470 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insider Activity

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 transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.08. The stock had a trading volume of 6,300,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,704,600. The business's fifty day moving average is $115.71 and its 200-day moving average is $125.16. 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 has a market cap of $211.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $142.03.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.43%.

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.