CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after buying an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 71.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,370,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,077,000 after buying an additional 569,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $124.03 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.61 and a 200-day moving average of $112.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $199.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.