Trust Investment Advisors Has $1.60 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Investment Advisors lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.2% of Trust Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $108,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 306,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,801,000 after purchasing an additional 22,095 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 61.9% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,660 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 64.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 17,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,696 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cfra raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total transaction of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,215,213.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded up $0.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $90.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,747,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,915,005. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $88.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.81. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.93%.

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.