Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 1,111 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 113.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MS. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $157.40 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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.