Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 743 shares during the quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 138.1% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. HSBC lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.27.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $139.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.14, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $225.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $130.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $142.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.68. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 12.48%. The firm had revenue of $16.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 46.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 17,500 shares of the 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. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 197,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,891,872.80. This represents a 6.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.