Savant Capital LLC Has $4.70 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Savant Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after buying an additional 269,633 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MS opened at $137.80 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $130.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.70. The company has a market capitalization of $222.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.