Invesco Ltd. Sells 1,888,903 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Invesco Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,194,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,888,903 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,277,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Ridgeback Group agreed to buy Metra Living for £1.045 billion, expanding MS into U.K. rental housing and underscoring its private-markets and real estate growth strategy. Morgan Stanley (MS) Buys Into UK Rentals With £1.045b Metra Living Deal
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage says Morgan Stanley is also benefiting from renewed investor enthusiasm for banks, with the broader financial sector hitting records ahead of the Fed meeting, which is helping support MS sentiment. Big Bank Stocks Hit Records Ahead of Fed Meeting
• Positive Sentiment: News flow continues to frame MS as a long-term growth and wealth-management winner, with commentary highlighting its ambition to reach $10 trillion in client assets and potential upside from a future SpaceX IPO mandate. Morgan Stanley (MS) Is Chasing $10 Trillion In Wealth And A SpaceX Boost
• Neutral Sentiment: Other headlines around Morgan Stanley today were mostly research-related, including notes on oil and sector calls, which are more likely to affect sentiment around specific industries than MS’s core earnings outlook.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $223.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $198.14 and a 200-day moving average of $182.49. The company has a market cap of $352.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $130.90 and a one year high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $207.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $179.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $206.35.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. This represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.