Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stock Holdings Decreased by Viawealth LLC

Viawealth LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 17.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,693 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,235 shares during the period. Viawealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,498 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,292,000 after buying an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 938,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,377,000 after buying an additional 97,798 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 3,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Odeon Capital Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Atlantic Securities boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.22.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.3 %

MS stock opened at $84.94 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $74.67 and a 12 month high of $100.99. The firm has a market cap of $140.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The business had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,242,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,984 shares in the company, valued at $7,634,528. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total transaction of $11,543,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares in the company, valued at $104,941,460.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total transaction of $1,242,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,634,528. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.