National Bank of Canada FI Sells 83,233 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. TCG Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 335.7% during the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 170,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,863,000 after acquiring an additional 131,071 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $398,000. First National Trust Co increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 34,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,241,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $167,000. Finally, Baxter Bros Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 67,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,335,000 after buying an additional 765 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Cfra boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The stock had a trading volume of 5,043,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,976,032. The firm has a market cap 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $90.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.98. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57.

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

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 26,655 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.19, for a total value of $2,324,049.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 286,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,009,143.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.