Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Decreases Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Bell Bank grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 5,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 17,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. WP Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 15,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $131.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $132.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $84.43 and a 52 week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.27.

About Morgan Stanley

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.