RNC Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

RNC Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 2,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 19,003 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 2,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 174,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,280,000 after buying an additional 99,291 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 29,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MS. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $148.23 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $151.86. The stock has a market cap of $236.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $144.22 and a 200-day moving average of $129.68. 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 (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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.