Cibc World Market Inc. Grows Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 511,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 147,807 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $64,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total transaction of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $140.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. 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 has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $141.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.80 and a 200 day moving average of $115.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.