Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Makes New $10.25 Million Investment in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. bought a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 109,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,245,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Union Savings Bank raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% in the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $98.97. The stock had a trading volume of 3,547,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,093,335. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $160.84 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.54 and a 200-day moving average of $88.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock valued at $10,722,696 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

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.