Providence First Trust Co Invests $539,000 in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 4,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $133.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $132.99 and a 200 day moving average of $121.05. 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 company has a market capitalization of $214.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.