Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Chapin Davis Inc.

Chapin Davis Inc. cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 391 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 34.3% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.92.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $159.68 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $161.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $146.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.64. The company has a market capitalization of $254.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.