Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 67,280 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 866,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 67,280 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises 0.8% of Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $108,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 1ST Source Bank increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. 1ST Source Bank now owns 15,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.53.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $115.23 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $85.01 and a 1-year high of $142.03. The company has a market capitalization of $185.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents 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 currently 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.