FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 130 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,203,000 after acquiring an additional 17,454 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after purchasing an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,040,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,152,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,182,000 after purchasing an additional 16,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:MS opened at $137.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36. 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 fifty day moving average of $128.88 and a 200 day moving average of $113.31. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. On average, research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.