Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 981 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 32.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,883,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $101.89 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.96 and its 200 day moving average is $94.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $165.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. 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 (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.45.

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.