Belpointe Asset Management LLC Has $403,000 Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 53.7% during the first quarter, now holding shares valued at $403,000.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., have increased their holdings in Morgan Stanley, highlighting strong interest in the stock.
• Morgan Stanley announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, with an annualized payout of $4.00, reflecting strong financial performance.

Belpointe Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 53.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,458 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,012 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989,122 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares during the period. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $363,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,555,015 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $156.47 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $157.76. The stock has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $145.30 and a 200-day moving average of $130.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.