Community Trust & Investment Co. Raises Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Community Trust & Investment Co. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after acquiring an additional 16,350 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at about $579,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.5 %

MS opened at $124.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $200.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $128.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.02.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

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.