Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by S&CO Inc.

S&CO Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,744,333 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,774,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,685,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233,589 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.4%

MS stock opened at $142.46 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $228.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $135.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.88.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Bank of America dropped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

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.