Ibex Wealth Advisors Acquires New Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 115.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Morgan Stanley from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $107.00 to $142.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.20, for a total value of $1,783,811.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 owns 81,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,076,654.40. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $1.22 on Thursday, reaching $139.93. 2,134,069 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,468,723. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.67. The company has a market capitalization of $225.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $83.09 and a 52 week high of $141.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.03 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 46.60%.

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.