Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 38,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,520 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.1 %

MS stock opened at $138.35 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.14. The stock has a market cap of $222.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $141.48. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Bank of America upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.