WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 761 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth about $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after acquiring an additional 22,095 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 61.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after buying an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7 %

MS stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $94.16. The company had a trading volume of 2,431,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,908,796. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $95.57. The company has a market capitalization of $153.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.09.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The business had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. HSBC boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

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.