Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Increased by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,416,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,455,083,000 after acquiring an additional 7,514,505 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,389,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,232,000 after buying an additional 1,566,606 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,955,509 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $757,219,000 after acquiring an additional 166,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,074,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,303,000 after acquiring an additional 67,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 9.6% in the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,163,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,806,000 after acquiring an additional 539,483 shares during the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MS. Wolfe Research cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Citigroup lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.28.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded down $2.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,935,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,134,612. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $72.05 and a one year high of $100.99. The company has a market cap of $141.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $95.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $12.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.16 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 16.73%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 31st were given a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 30th. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at $33,824,933.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 15,133 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.20, for a total transaction of $1,455,794.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 323,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,110,887.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 44,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.05, for a total value of $4,358,515.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 348,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,824,933.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 341,699 shares of company stock valued at $33,143,046. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.