Alliancebernstein L.P. Buys 47,221 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,889,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,221 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $363,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $116.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.11. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $85.01 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.53.

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.