Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA Sells 81 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 15,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,939,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 78.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,780,000 after buying an additional 6,204 shares during the last quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 142,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,901,000 after buying an additional 24,554 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 3,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.5 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $137.78 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $138.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.88 and its 200 day moving average is $113.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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