Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by IFC Advisors LLC

IFC Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 323 shares during the quarter. IFC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $155.10 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $94.33 and a 12 month high of $163.98.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan 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 buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.