Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 15,959 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,959 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 1.1% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.0%

MS stock opened at $155.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $150.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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.