Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 163,095 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,611,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 163,095 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp owned 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $151,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,284,674,000 after buying an additional 1,865,645 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575,114 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Cfra boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $92.65. 4,439,278 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,545,672. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $150.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $90.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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