West Oak Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

West Oak Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,135 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several research reports. HSBC lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.80.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded down $4.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $123.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,844,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,921,634. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $136.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.24. 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 $198.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36.

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

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.32%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now directly owns 138,363 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.