Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Holdings Boosted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 111.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,331,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,230,623 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.14% of Morgan Stanley worth $293,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Plancorp LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 2,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 117,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 36,790 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $3,046,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $136,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.60.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $120.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $193.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.81. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 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 3.08%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.