Private Trust Co. NA Purchases 273 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,251,387,000 after purchasing an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after purchasing an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,834,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,573,000 after purchasing an additional 242,896 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,151,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,969,000 after purchasing an additional 57,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently 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 research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was 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 approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $131.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $76.33 and a 52 week high of $136.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $117.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. 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.