Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Sells 109,176 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 71.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 109,176 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 4,424 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 45.0% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after acquiring an additional 4,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE MS opened at $115.50 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $115.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.64. The company has a market capitalization of $186.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.73 and a 52 week high of $142.03. 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 (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

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.

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