New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,706,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 382,760 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.10% of Morgan Stanley worth $159,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,474,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,917,159,000 after buying an additional 4,098,577 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,159,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,074,718,000 after buying an additional 415,531 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,107,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,070,528,000 after buying an additional 277,909 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 8,082,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,067,000 after buying an additional 483,859 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,672,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $544,913,000 after buying an additional 766,530 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS traded up $1.51 on Tuesday, reaching $93.60. 1,531,035 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,788,398. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Cfra upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total transaction of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,562,040.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102. Corporate insiders own 0.24% 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.