Mirabaud & Cie SA Sells 21,885 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• Mirabaud & Cie SA reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 44.5%, selling 21,885 shares and holding 27,332 shares, which now represents 1.2% of its portfolio.
• Morgan Stanley announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, an increase from the previous $0.93, reflecting a 2.6% yield.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Morgan Stanley, with target prices ranging from $130 to $160 and an average rating of "Hold".

Mirabaud & Cie SA trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,332 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 21,885 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for 1.2% of Mirabaud & Cie SA's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Mirabaud & Cie SA's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS opened at $156.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.50. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $157.76. The stock has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

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

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last three months. Company 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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