Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 453 shares during the quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.29 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a market cap of $247.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.21.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.