Cibc World Markets Corp Trims Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cibc World Markets Corp lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 390,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 117,929 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $36,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 271,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,315,000 after purchasing an additional 12,520 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 6,565.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 185,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,324,000 after purchasing an additional 182,990 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 96,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,595,000 after purchasing an additional 8,814 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 212,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,855,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 148,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 414,870 shares in the company, valued at $37,425,422.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $9,021,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 414,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,425,422.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,609,353.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,739,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,886,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $103.25. The company has a market cap of $157.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.84 and a 200-day moving average of $89.82.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MS. Cfra boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.30.

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.