Korea Investment CORP Sells 50,801 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Korea Investment CORP lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,129,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 50,801 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Morgan Stanley worth $96,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 114.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,059,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,024,589,000 after purchasing an additional 12,321,786 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $956,566,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 125,756.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,641,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $904,714,000 after purchasing an additional 10,632,735 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 96,878.4% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,727,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,718,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $451,711,000. 83.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded down $0.86 on Tuesday, hitting $78.84. 2,736,087 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,676,219. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $100.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.68 and its 200 day moving average is $83.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.70, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.07. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 10.86%. The firm had revenue of $13.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.93%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, major shareholder Stanley Morgan sold 135 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50,000.00, for a total value of $6,750,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MS. HSBC initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Finally, Odeon Capital Group cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $79.15 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.18.

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.