American Trust Sells 97 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

American Trust lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 37.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,734,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,532,000 after buying an additional 33,930 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $127.40 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.