First County Bank CT Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First County Bank CT boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the period. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $312,000. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 34,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 8,376 shares during the period. Bank of New Hampshire raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded down $2.43 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,584,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,018,250. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.80. The firm has a market cap of $203.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.