Vest Financial LLC Acquires 5,217 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 73.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,317 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,217 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 162,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,400,000 after acquiring an additional 42,743 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 499,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,804,000 after buying an additional 14,283 shares in the last quarter. Pamalican Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $4,513,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $5,686,000. Finally, NatWest Group plc bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $8,052,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $144.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $131.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $118.66 and a 200-day moving average of $125.25. The company has a market cap of $211.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $90.94 and a one year high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 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.

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