Founders Capital Management Trims Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Founders Capital Management cut its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $74,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 57,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,068,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 10,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 58,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,111,000 after buying an additional 5,720 shares during the last quarter. 83.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were 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 owns 136,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,615,166.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total transaction of $517,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 136,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,615,166.33. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $1,242,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,634,528. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock valued at $34,634,996 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MS shares. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.22.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4 %

MS traded down $0.39 on Friday, reaching $88.68. 2,351,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,286,253. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.26 and its 200-day moving average is $86.94. The company has a market cap of $146.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $74.67 and a twelve month high of $100.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.04. The firm 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 was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, June 30th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a $0.85 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.96%.

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.