Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Brevan Howard Capital Management LP

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,304 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 158,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,901,000 after purchasing an additional 35,399 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $3,247,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 156,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,647,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price 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. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $119.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $192.82 billion, a PE ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. 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 $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.79.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.