Trust Co. of Vermont Has $1.42 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,387 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.56.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.4 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $121.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $121.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

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.