Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 70,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 46,907,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,118,465,000 after acquiring an additional 913,447 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,013,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,371,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,768 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,258,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,973,640,000 after acquiring an additional 97,672 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 19,315,836 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,695,930,000 after acquiring an additional 314,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,632,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,284,691,000 after acquiring an additional 481,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total transaction of $11,898,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at $96,269,930.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.19, for a total transaction of $11,898,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at $96,269,930.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total value of $9,433,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 604,845 shares in the company, valued at $57,055,028.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,418,989 shares of company stock worth $44,556,447. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Atlantic Securities raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.06.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,981,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,323,015. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $74.67 and a 12-month high of $100.99. The company has a market capitalization of $142.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.71.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, June 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 59.96%.

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.