Eastern Bank Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Eastern Bank cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.07.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $128.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.83. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

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.