Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Sells 23,304 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,580 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,304 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 117.2% in the fourth quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 16,968 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,133,000 after buying an additional 9,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,804,000 after buying an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider now owns 335,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $121.66. The company had a trading volume of 4,240,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,680,417. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $196.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $114.38 and its 200 day moving average is $124.73.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.