Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,236 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.7% in the second quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 2,129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.6% in the second quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 69,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.1% in the second quarter. Pennsylvania Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 46,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.25.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $159.06 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $253.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $133.74.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.