Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $111.67 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 888,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 196,331 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.06% of Morgan Stanley worth $111,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after buying an additional 17,454 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 2.5 %

MS opened at $119.17 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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’s 50-day moving average is $130.06 and its 200 day moving average is $123.47.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This 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.

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.