Washington Trust Bank Takes $222,000 Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Washington Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 185.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 29,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Finally, Code Waechter LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 4,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,493,199.24. This represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $163.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a market cap of $259.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $167.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $157.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 41.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.23.

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.