Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 44.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,926 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 850,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,504,112. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $109.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $164.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.