Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 548 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.21. The stock had a trading volume of 9,056,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,642,376. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.