Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Has $1.56 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,400,000 after acquiring an additional 42,743 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,804,000 after purchasing an additional 14,283 shares during the period. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,686,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after buying an additional 21,090 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.88 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $119.39 and a 200-day moving average of $125.20. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03. The company has a market cap of $211.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 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 firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Monday, April 14th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI reduced 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

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.