City Holding Co. Raises Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

City Holding Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 976 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.46.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This represents a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MS opened at $131.89 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $142.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.18. The company has a market capitalization of $211.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.43%.

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.