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Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

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Key Points

  • Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.6%, selling 67,994 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 10.95 million shares valued at $1.28 billion.
  • Morgan Stanley recently announced a $20 billion stock repurchase program, indicating that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
  • The company is set to increase its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, marking a rise from the previous dividend of $0.93, effective for investors of record on July 31st.
  • MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by October 1st.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,951,700 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 67,994 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.68% of Morgan Stanley worth $1,277,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Omnia Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 18,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,144,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during 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, Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 5,096 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MS

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $143.50. 1,019,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,730,273. The stock has a market cap of $229.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 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. The stock's fifty day moving average is $138.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.40. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $93.54 and a 52-week high of $145.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Morgan Stanley's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

About Morgan Stanley

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

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