Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 267,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,927 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.3% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $37,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the second quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the second quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the second quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $152.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $242.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 128,662 shares in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

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.