Bangor Savings Bank Acquires 183 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 385.2% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $126.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.89 and a 200 day moving average of $112.02. The company has a market cap of $204.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued 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 2.92%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.32%.

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.