Trust Co. of Vermont Grows Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,387 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MS opened at $121.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.