ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $480,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $1,498,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $89,761,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, First County Bank CT raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 5,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $123.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $128.45 and a 200 day moving average of $112.42. The firm has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $136.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The company had revenue of $15.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.