American National Bank & Trust Buys 433 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $127.87 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.31. The company has a market cap of $205.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock valued at $6,019,548. 0.19% of the stock is currently 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.