First National Advisers LLC Has $3.66 Million Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• First National Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.1% during the first quarter, now holding 31,349 shares valued at $3.7 million.
• Morgan Stanley plans to distribute a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.93 and yielding 2.80% annually.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Morgan Stanley, with a current consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.25.

First National Advisers LLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,140 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.4%

MS stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $142.46. 3,729,333 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,602,143. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $90.94 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The company has a market cap of $228.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's fifty day moving average is $135.60 and its 200-day moving average is $127.88.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The firm's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.90%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.