Peoples Bank OH Sells 200 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Peoples Bank OH cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 24,499,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,284,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,865,645 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,250,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,380,000 after acquiring an additional 517,446 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 20,197,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,883,392,000 after acquiring an additional 575,114 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $958,105,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $2.02 on Tuesday, hitting $102.61. 7,113,609 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,525,929. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $97.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.23. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $103.25. The company has a market capitalization of $166.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. HSBC increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.07.

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.