Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Has $7.07 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 75,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 2.8% of Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5,200.0% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. RVW Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 810.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective (down previously from $94.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $89.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $109.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.45.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.13, for a total transaction of $841,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 323,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,215,213.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total transaction of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,140,842.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,155 shares of company stock valued at $18,149,314 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MS traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $94.03. 1,654,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,896,182. The stock has a market cap of $153.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $95.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.09.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.06. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $12.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 65.76%.

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.