Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. Sells 400 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 138.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $106.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $137.42 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $221.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.03. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $83.09 and a one year high of $138.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 EPS 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 company had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.60%.

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.