Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 385.2% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.13.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $2.74 on Monday, hitting $128.68. 6,664,463 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,606,221. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $127.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

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.