Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after buying an additional 242,896 shares during the period. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $354,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 136.4% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 37,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after buying an additional 21,921 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.1% during the second quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 25,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.07.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.83. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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