Tortoise Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Tortoise Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 67.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $150.16 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $150.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.33. The company has a market cap of $239.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 1.87 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.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley 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.