3,999 Shares in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Purchased by Ibex Wealth Advisors

Ibex Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America raised 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.27.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $138.77 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.66 and its 200 day moving average is $115.51. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $141.48. 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 company has a market capitalization of $223.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

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.