Haverford Trust Co Has $11.51 Million Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 236.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 69,357 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $11,511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE:MS opened at $147.9340 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $141.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.06. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $149.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $236.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.32.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

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.