Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Acquired by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,917,159,000 after acquiring an additional 4,098,577 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,070,528,000 after acquiring an additional 277,909 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,067,000 after acquiring an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,913,000 after acquiring an additional 766,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $94.79. 5,103,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,465,847. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $90.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for 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%. The company’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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.