Trust Point Inc. Grows Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trust Point Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Optas LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. McNamara Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $4,671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $137.26 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $141.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.20. The company has a market cap of $221.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.36. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

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.