First County Bank CT Trims Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First County Bank CT lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 172 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $128.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $117.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.44. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $90.94 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $205.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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.