National Bank of Canada FI Lowers Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 784,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 83,233 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $73,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,009,143.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock worth $21,084,057. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The company has a market capitalization of $152.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $90.30 and its 200-day moving average is $85.98. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.