Commerce Bank Purchases 19,673 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,148,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,673 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.9% of Commerce Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $144,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Sarl grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 44,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,609,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares in the last quarter. Alexis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth $404,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 112.0% in the fourth quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 39,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,019,000 after purchasing an additional 21,090 shares during the period. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 9,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,665 shares of company stock worth $5,288,079. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $109.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.28. The stock has a market cap of $175.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $89.74 and a 52-week high of $142.03. 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) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.50.

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.