First Bank & Trust Grows Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 410.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,125 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 12,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 13,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:MS opened at $140.70 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.43 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

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.