Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,018 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,546,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Reik & CO. LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $137.80 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.80 and a 200 day moving average of $117.70. The stock has a market cap of $222.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during 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 was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was 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.