Midwest Trust Co Has $29.21 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Midwest Trust Co increased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) by 9.1% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 177,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the quarter. Midwest Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $29,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $222.21. 3,617,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,448,374. The firm has a market capitalization of $350.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $135.26 and a 52 week high of $230.47.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.20.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MS

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total transaction of $9,744,068.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 282,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,209,159.78. This trade represents a 15.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

(Free Report)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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