Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Bought by Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $136.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $139.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 46.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. The trade was a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.