Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Trimmed by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,474 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,965,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,512,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,184,000 after buying an additional 99,480 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 91,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,895,000 after purchasing an additional 7,270 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.2% during the second quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 2,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,696,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 491.2% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,749,000 after buying an additional 23,501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $123.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,871,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,466,701. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $128.45 and a 200 day moving average of $112.63.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.