Cibc World Market Inc. Sells 18,347 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Cibc World Market Inc. lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 517,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,347 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $91,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the 4th quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 14,690 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.24, for a total value of $2,779,935.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 365,802 shares in the company, valued at $69,224,370.48. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. This trade represents a 6.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 77,476 shares of company stock worth $14,644,762 in the last quarter. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS stock opened at $210.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $332.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.43. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $127.34 and a 52 week high of $217.03.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.65% and a return on equity of 17.70%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Key Headlines Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were reportedly chosen to lead Anthropic’s IPO, a potentially high-profile assignment that could bring underwriting fees, trading activity, and prestige if the deal moves forward. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Land Anthropic IPO
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led a $33 million growth financing for Subtle Medical, reinforcing the firm’s active role in funding AI-related and healthcare technology opportunities. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Leads $33 Million Growth Financing For Subtle Medical
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley also published macro commentary warning that Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting could jolt foreign-exchange markets, a view that matters more for the broader market backdrop than for MS directly. Warsh’s Fed Debut Is a Key Risk for FX, Morgan Stanley Says

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $185.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.95.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.