Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Holdings Boosted by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 37.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,780,745 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 486,165 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 0.9% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.11% of Morgan Stanley worth $223,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after buying an additional 604,024 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after buying an additional 428,956 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE MS traded up $1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $116.88. 7,743,077 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,668,206. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.64. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.73 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $188.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Evercore ISI dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. 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 research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.