Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Invests $1.27 Million in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,267,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 474.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 21,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,203,000 after purchasing an additional 17,454 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,159,000 after acquiring an additional 36,120 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $2,040,000. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $597,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $130.50.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,231,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,655,480. The firm has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.36 and a twelve month high of $142.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.31. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This trade represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.