Diversified Trust Co Acquires 8,376 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,376 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,357,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Bank of New Hampshire grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $318,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.38. The company had a trading volume of 2,115,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,405,089. The company has a market capitalization of $205.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $127.74 and its 200-day moving average is $111.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.13.

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.