Columbia Bank Has $2.04 Million Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Columbia Bank lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the quarter. Columbia Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the second quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.1% in the second quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.36.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.0%

NYSE:MS opened at $162.85 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.93. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $171.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $17.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

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.