Trust Investment Advisors Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Investment Advisors reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.2% of Trust Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 810.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.26. 6,747,553 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,915,005. The company has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $88.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total transaction of $4,396,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock valued at $17,564,394 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.