Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 719 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 3.3% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $9,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $139.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.00. 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 stock has a market cap of $225.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.52 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % 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 Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

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.