Beta Wealth Group Inc. Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Beta Wealth Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,398 shares during the period. Beta Wealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,240,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,621,140,000 after purchasing an additional 269,633 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after acquiring an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,454,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,263,000 after acquiring an additional 385,780 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,493,000 after buying an additional 3,369,520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,711,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,159,000 after buying an additional 36,120 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $139.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $84.41 and a 1 year high of $142.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.67.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 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.