Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Takes $512.87 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,499,919 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $512,867,000. Morgan Stanley comprises 5.1% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board owned 0.34% of Morgan Stanley at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE MS traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $100.74. 5,194,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,164,414. The stock has a market capitalization of $163.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.41. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25. The business's 50-day moving average is $93.35 and its 200-day moving average is $88.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Morgan Stanley 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.