Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Parkside Financial Bank & Trust

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 167 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 328.0% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 14,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 11,295 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $1,328,000. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 6,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $443,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,574,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,227,625. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

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.