Trust Investment Advisors Sells 1,139 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Investment Advisors reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,139 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises 1.2% of Trust Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $64,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 561,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,636,000 after acquiring an additional 20,181 shares during the period. Florida Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Baxter Bros Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 79,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $555,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $124.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.33.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $125.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.51. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $85.01 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.