Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $324,118,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after buying an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.4%

MS opened at $129.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $207.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.40. 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 Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. The trade was a 4.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.