First Hawaiian Bank Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Hawaiian Bank trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,146 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,029,970,000 after acquiring an additional 212,551 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after acquiring an additional 242,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7 %

MS stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $127.83. 5,743,934 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,736,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $205.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $127.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.02.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. HSBC cut Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.80.

Insider Activity

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

Morgan Stanley Company 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.