NBW Capital LLC Sells 512 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

NBW Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 512 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after purchasing an additional 3,369,520 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after buying an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 26,142.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,055,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,661,000 after buying an additional 1,051,189 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $89,761,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of 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 cut shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 3.2 %

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $128.88 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $133.08 and its 200-day moving average is $121.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.