First Bank & Trust Acquires 10,125 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

First Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 410.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,589 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,125 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MS. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $528,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 484,479 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $60,909,000 after acquiring an additional 44,456 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $2,829,000. Finally, Legacy Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $361,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE MS traded down $2.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.60. The stock had a trading volume of 6,701,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,566,525. The company has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $84.43 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The company's 50-day moving average price is $132.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. HSBC downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley 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.