Korea Investment CORP Sells 262,031 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Korea Investment CORP lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 957,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 262,031 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $120,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $122.17 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.50. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03. The firm has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. 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.