Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $283,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 24.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,004 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 17,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 27,845 shares during the period. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Evercore Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after purchasing an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $97.19 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $96.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.76. The firm has a market cap of $157.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.93%.

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.