Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $10.76 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,179 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 256,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,755,000 after buying an additional 25,179 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 112,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,758,000 after purchasing an additional 10,107 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 231.3% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 9,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 6,436 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 73,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Finally, Tanager Wealth Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.8% during the third quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 4,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 4.5 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $134.36 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.