Avalon Trust Co Has $1.13 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Avalon Trust Co reduced its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. The trade was a 14.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $169.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $269.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $159.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.31. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $171.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The company had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MS. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.23.

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.