Kintegral Advisory LLC Sells 30,476 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Kintegral Advisory LLC trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 32.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,476 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley comprises approximately 1.1% of Kintegral Advisory LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Kintegral Advisory LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MS. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 41,876 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,886,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. SMART Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at $241,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 601.3% during the first quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 2,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 1,870 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.2% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 248,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $28,984,000 after buying an additional 20,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,914,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MS. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.62.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of MS opened at $144.50 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $129.00 and its 200 day moving average is $125.93. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $90.94 and a 12-month high of $144.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. The stock has a market cap of $231.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.30.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The financial services provider reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $17.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 10,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.65, for a total value of $1,124,092.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 199,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,248,942.10. This represents a 4.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $4,800,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 335,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,291,800. The trade was a 10.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,868 shares of company stock worth $6,019,548. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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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