Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Stake Trimmed by Longbow Finance SA

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, holding a total of 29,358 shares valued at approximately $3.43 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, increasing from the previous $0.93, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.81%.
• The company recently reported earnings per share of $2.13 for the quarter, surpassing expectations and reflecting an 11.8% year-over-year revenue growth.

Longbow Finance SA lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,358 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,304 shares during the period. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 104.7% in the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock worth $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $143.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,546,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,855,339. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.16. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $135.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.88.

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

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI decreased 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.