Primecap Management Co. CA Has $165.07 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,770,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 773,009 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.11% of Morgan Stanley worth $165,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 116.6% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,245,000. Sepio Capital LP lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 3,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. Skopos Labs Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,602,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 17,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.97. 3,550,530 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,577,264. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $103.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.