Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,501 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 713,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,501 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.4% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $60,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 3,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.7% in the first quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the first quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the second quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 12,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, X Square Capital LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.7% in the first quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 5,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $96,269,930.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The shares were 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 approximately $96,269,930.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 5,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.41, for a total transaction of $517,496.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 136,513 shares in the company, valued at $12,615,166.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.41. The company had a trading volume of 17,629,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,374,314. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $146.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $74.67 and a 12-month high of $100.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.83.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $13.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. This is a boost 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MS. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 18th. Odeon Capital Group raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, HSBC began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.22.

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.