Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Brooklyn Investment Group

Key Points

• Brooklyn Investment Group reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.4%, now owning 24,802 shares valued at approximately $2,894,000.
• Recent analyst ratings show a positive outlook for Morgan Stanley, with price targets raised by major firms including Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs.
• Morgan Stanley declared a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share and authorized a stock buyback plan worth $20 billion, indicating confidence in the company's value.

Brooklyn Investment Group decreased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,802 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,835 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 0.6% of Brooklyn Investment Group's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Brooklyn Investment Group's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 106.7% during the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 3,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 4,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $468,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 2,945 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94,846 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,066,000 after purchasing an additional 23,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $144.55 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $149.08. The company has a 50-day moving average of $139.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.68. The stock has a market cap of $230.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.37, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. 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.

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