Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,736,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,282,221 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.48% of Morgan Stanley worth $972,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE MS opened at $129.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $132.38 and its 200 day moving average is $120.41. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $84.43 and a twelve month 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.