City State Bank Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

City State Bank cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. City State Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total value of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,488,718.71. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.50 on Monday, hitting $123.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,144,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,208,789. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $136.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $199.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $128.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.63.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

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.