Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,490,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 337,264 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.20% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,894,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 720,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,991,000 after acquiring an additional 33,247 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 491.2% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 28,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,749,000 after purchasing an additional 23,501 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,696,000. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 12.2% during the second quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 2,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.6% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 91,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,895,000 after buying an additional 7,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $98.25 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The firm has a market cap of $159.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.