Capital Investment Advisors LLC Sells 677 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 677 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 13,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 185.1% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 312,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,648,000 after purchasing an additional 202,573 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during 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 during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.9% in the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 45,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,865,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $200,000. 83.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,269,930.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James P. Gorman sold 125,000 shares of the 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 owns 1,011,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $96,269,930.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Edward N. Pick sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.33, for a total transaction of $9,433,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 604,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,055,028.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 369,100 shares of company stock worth $34,634,996. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MS stock opened at $88.41 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.76. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $74.67 and a 52-week high of $100.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.35. 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 30th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MS shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Atlantic Securities boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Odeon Capital Group raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.22.

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.