Caldwell Trust Co Makes New $2.76 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley $MS

Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,760,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,123,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,779,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,142 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,045,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,387,005,000 after purchasing an additional 749,150 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $2,234,883,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,438,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,894,023,000 after buying an additional 374,711 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $198.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.38.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $178.57 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $181.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.40% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business had revenue of $17.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total transaction of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 574,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.