Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Fiduciary Alliance LLC

Key Points

• Fiduciary Alliance LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 14.9%, now holding 98,486 shares, valued at approximately $13.87 million.
• Multiple institutions have adjusted their positions, with CBIZ Investment Advisory Services increasing its holdings by 111% in the first quarter.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 and initiated a $20 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Fiduciary Alliance LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 14.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,195 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.0% of Fiduciary Alliance LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Fiduciary Alliance LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $13,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% during the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter worth $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 50.0% during the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, 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. One research 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.com, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $156.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $145.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.66. The stock has a market cap of $249.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $158.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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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