First American Trust FSB Trims Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First American Trust FSB lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 655 shares during the period. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 110,132,798 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,845,895,000 after buying an additional 696,646 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,833,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,870,683,000 after purchasing an additional 428,956 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,019,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,385,396,000 after purchasing an additional 47,699 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,263,000 after purchasing an additional 385,780 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $124.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $200.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $130.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.31. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $85.01 and a 52 week high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MS. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted 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. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.93.

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.