STAR Financial Bank Sells 688 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

STAR Financial Bank reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 688 shares during the quarter. STAR Financial Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,058 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth about $87,558,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,850,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,208,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,683,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $76.33 and a 1 year high of $135.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.66 and a 200 day moving average of $104.68. The company has a market cap of $212.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion for 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of 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 $121.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.94.

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.