NFJ Investment Group LLC Has $26.20 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,456 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $26,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,870,683,000 after acquiring an additional 428,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,910,200,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $110.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $88.00 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.00.

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.