Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Reduced by Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,152 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 77.3% during the third quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 123.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 220.6% during the third quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. HSBC upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 target price (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total value of $1,009,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 126,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,368,457.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total value of $8,730,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 237,855 shares of company stock valued at $21,084,057. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $91.80. 594,802 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,498,557. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $69.42 and a twelve month high of $95.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.41.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.87% and a net margin of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.