Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,480,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,252 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.15% of Morgan Stanley worth $311,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 120,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,200,000 after buying an additional 15,142 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $46,287,000. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $4,513,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Magellan Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $18,009,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.