Bank of Hawaii Sells 707 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bank of Hawaii lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 60,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,671,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 334,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,517,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.9% during the first quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 8,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $1,171,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $133.67 on Tuesday. 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 has a 12-month low of $76.33 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.83 and a 200-day moving average of $105.55. The stock has a market cap of $215.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MS. HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped 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. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.81.

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.