Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management Has $219,000 Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,745 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 373 shares during the quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,850,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $881,493,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369,520 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 382.4% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,597,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $166,555,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266,600 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,761,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,404,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,335,495,000 after purchasing an additional 590,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,927,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MS. Bank of America increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 13,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 197,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This trade represents a 6.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total transaction of $2,380,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 81,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,076,654.40. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $140.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $226.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $84.43 and a fifty-two week high of $142.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.48% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The company had revenue of $16.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 25.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.