Bangor Savings Bank Sells 427 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Bangor Savings Bank lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the quarter. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $253,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 91.4% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 56,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after acquiring an additional 26,778 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 16,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,340,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gemmer Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.46.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $131.89 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $142.03. The stock has a market cap of $211.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $118.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $4,800,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 335,765 shares in the company, valued at $40,291,800. This trade represents a 10.64% 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, Director Robert H. Herz sold 800 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.32, for a total transaction of $95,456.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 96,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,545,403.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.