Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $405,000 Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 29.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,808 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Paralel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 21,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 19.6% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 860,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,250,000 after buying an additional 141,195 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 909,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,277,000 after buying an additional 41,529 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% in the third quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 6,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $524,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MS. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Cfra increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MS stock traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.16. 10,983,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,295,027. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $103.25. The company has a market capitalization of $156.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.93%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.