National Pension Service Increases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,022,035 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 40,583 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.12% of Morgan Stanley worth $188,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,543,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of MS traded up $2.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $98.13. The company had a trading volume of 6,765,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,393,073. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $159.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $98.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is 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.