Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 165,581 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 16,222 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.0% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 4,674 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 85,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $8,907,000 after buying an additional 5,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 59,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,024 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays increased 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 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, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $116.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $115.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.

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