Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $3.85 Million Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,478 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 1,658 shares during the last quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% during the first quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 235,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,206,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.8% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 5,816,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $547,714,000 after buying an additional 316,924 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 4,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 30.7% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. HSBC raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MS opened at $134.06 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $76.33 and a one year high of $134.91. The company has a market cap of $215.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.55 and a 200-day moving average of $103.75.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

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.