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

NBW Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the third 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. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS opened at $128.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.57. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $84.43 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

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.