Independence Bank of Kentucky Acquires 8,114 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 203.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,114 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,585,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,631,435 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 600.8% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,301,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $122,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,058 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth approximately $87,558,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth approximately $85,535,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.3 %

MS stock traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.61. 1,457,257 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,002,955. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $110.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $100.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.96%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.06.

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.