Independence Bank of Kentucky Sells 254 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 254 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,669 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,025,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MS opened at $138.35 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $141.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. 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 (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given 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 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MS. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.