Community Bank N.A. Buys 2,523 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Community Bank N.A. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,904 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.93, for a total value of $4,396,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,172,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,355 shares of company stock valued at $26,753,102. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $93.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,100,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,804,559. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $95.57. The stock has a market cap of $152.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.07.

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.