Moody National Bank Trust Division Buys 937 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,455,083,000 after purchasing an additional 7,514,505 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566,606 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,955,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $757,219,000 after buying an additional 166,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,303,000 after buying an additional 67,791 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,163,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,806,000 after buying an additional 539,483 shares during the period. 83.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $2.83 on Friday, hitting $84.18. 19,935,825 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $95.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $72.05 and a one year high of $100.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. The business had revenue of $12.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.16 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 50.49%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.93, for a total value of $24,232,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,112,348 shares in the company, valued at $107,819,891.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,706,921.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Gorman sold 250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.93, for a total transaction of $24,232,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,112,348 shares in the company, valued at $107,819,891.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 341,699 shares of company stock worth $33,143,046. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Odeon Capital Group upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $88.75 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. StockNews.com started coverage on Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.