Bank & Trust Co Invests $26,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Union Savings Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $92.95. 6,067,625 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,630,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.57 and a 200 day moving average of $93.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

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.