Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Nexus Investment Management ULC

Nexus Investment Management ULC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,000 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $129.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.58. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $138.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

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.