Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Sells 1,769 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 0.9%, selling 1,769 shares, bringing their total to 189,954 shares worth approximately $22.16 million.
• In the first quarter, several large investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., significantly increased their positions in Morgan Stanley.
• Morgan Stanley recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.00, reflecting a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.93.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,954 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,769 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $22,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during 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 buying an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during 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 buying an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $320,941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,685,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233,589 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $147.66 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $141.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.96. The company has a market capitalization of $235.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.32. 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 has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $149.08.

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. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.Morgan Stanley's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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