Linscomb Wealth Inc. Sells 176 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MSFree Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Morgan Stanley

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $143.23 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $93.54 and a 52 week high of $145.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.40.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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