MGO One Seven LLC Sells 2,791 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• MGO One Seven LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 12.6% during the 1st quarter of the year, leaving the institutional investor with 19,433 shares valued at $2,267,000.
• Morgan Stanley's stock recently saw a decrease of 2.4%, with shares trading at approximately $139.09 and a year-high of $145.48.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.00 per share and approved a $20.00 billion share repurchase program, indicating management's belief in their stock's value.

MGO One Seven LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,433 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,791 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,335 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,774,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890,245 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE MS traded up $2.16 on Monday, reaching $141.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,851,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,735,002. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $145.48. The company's fifty day moving average is $136.87 and its 200-day moving average is $128.26.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. 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 declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

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.