Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Sells 2,435 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,706 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,435 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

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Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded down $7.69 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $111.61. 16,750,826 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,279,451. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $180.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $85.01 and a 12-month high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.