New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $159.14 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,706,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 382,760 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $159,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% in the 3rd quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $1.51 on Tuesday, reaching $93.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,531,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,788,398. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $89.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.10. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The company has a market cap of $152.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $879,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 313,490 shares in the company, valued at $27,562,040.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 in the last ninety days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.