Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,761 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,761 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,594,000 after buying an additional 13,334 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 22.7% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $521,000. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 33.5% in the third quarter. Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC now owns 333,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,251,000 after purchasing an additional 83,732 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 99.2% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 147,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,030,000 after buying an additional 73,363 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MS traded down $0.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.30. 417,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,531,741. The company has a market capitalization of $161.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $97.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.04. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.