Norway Savings Bank Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Norway Savings Bank lessened its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 30.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 13,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 185.1% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 312,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,648,000 after buying an additional 202,573 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 45,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MS shares. Odeon Capital Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 18th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Atlantic Securities upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.35, for a total value of $11,543,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,136,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,941,460.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 13,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 82,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,634,528. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7 %

MS stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.41. 17,629,508 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,374,314. The firm has a market capitalization 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 1 year low of $74.67 and a 1 year high of $100.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.47 and a 200-day moving average of $86.83. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 12.19%. Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.96%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 12.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.