First National Trust Co Grows Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

First National Trust Co grew its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 48,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,278 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at $252,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 23.8% in the second quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 191,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,951,000 after buying an additional 36,800 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 36.3% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 24,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,443,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $454,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.2%

MS stock opened at $165.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $264.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $155.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.71. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $166.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.