Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Intrust Bank NA

Intrust Bank NA trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,124 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 19.6% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 448,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,658,000 after buying an additional 14,521 shares during the period. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the third quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 16,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,626 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.1% in the third quarter. Atlas Private Wealth Management now owns 19,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 18,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MS shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $1.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.04. The company had a trading volume of 391,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,572,621. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $148.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.43. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.58.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.