Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 2,249 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,249 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res cut Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $138.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,881,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,892,826. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $139.04. The stock has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.