Grassi Investment Management Has $10.34 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Grassi Investment Management lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% during the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,402,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the first quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the second quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, X Square Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.7% during the first quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE MS opened at $88.40 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.76. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $74.67 and a fifty-two week high of $100.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 59.96%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,136,345 shares in the company, valued at $104,941,460.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total value of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 136,513 shares in the company, valued at $12,615,166.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,941,460.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, September 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

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.