Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 41,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,237 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 18,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 12,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.07.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 302,355 shares of company stock worth $26,753,102 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

MS opened at $92.10 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $95.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.10. The firm has a market cap of $149.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.