Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 46,252 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,480,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 46,252 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $311,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,910,200,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $324,118,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 7,282,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453,470 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $195,742,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $99.75 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $85.01 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.06 and a 200-day moving average of $124.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $142.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $129.87.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.