Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $108.02 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 859,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,203 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.05% of Morgan Stanley worth $108,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.87.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.75 on Friday. 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 company 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.25. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $85.01 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.