West Oak Capital LLC Decreases Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

West Oak Capital LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 69.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,135 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 7,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,470 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 28,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,530,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock traded down $4.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.41. The stock had a trading volume of 6,844,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,921,634. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $136.24. The firm has a market cap of $198.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.32 and its 200-day moving average is $112.24.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.31. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.64% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $15.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.27 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 56.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.80.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Stephen J. Luczo sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.17, for a total transaction of $7,150,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 138,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,488,718.71. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.