Fulton Bank N.A. Has $3.82 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Fulton Bank N.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,636 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.74. 2,503,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,066,111. 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 has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $136.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.27 billion. On average, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 56.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MS shares. HSBC cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.80.

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.