Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during 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 buying an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $99.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.06 and a 200-day moving average of $124.08. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.