Community Bank N.A. Has $1.80 Million Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Community Bank N.A. lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 31.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,185 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.7% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 144,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,917,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.2% in the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 5,621 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,488 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total value of $95,456.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at $11,545,403.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total transaction of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 199,274 shares in the company, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $132.56. 8,899,235 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,705,543. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $90.94 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The stock's fifty day moving average is $123.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.21. The company has a market cap of $212.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

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.