First National Trust Co Sells 387 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First National Trust Co lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 387 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $513,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $310,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at about $579,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $295,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.9 %

MS opened at $132.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $213.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $109.83 and its 200 day moving average is $102.77. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $74.55 and a fifty-two week high of $133.99.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.24.

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.