Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Grassi Investment Management

Grassi Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.3% of Grassi Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $16,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,740,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,807,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,610,881,000 after purchasing an additional 403,956 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.7% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 13,063,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,523,337,000 after purchasing an additional 219,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 9,652,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,126,205,000 after purchasing an additional 442,617 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $157.40 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $251.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average of $134.43.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.