Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI

Key Points

• LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.9%, selling 1,807 shares during the second quarter, and it now holds approximately 195,366 shares valued at $27.5 million.
• In the latest reports, analysts have increased their price targets for Morgan Stanley, with Goldman Sachs raising their target from $121 to $136, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.
• Morgan Stanley also announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share and initiated a $20 billion stock repurchase program, signaling confidence in its financial health.

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,807 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 2.9% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,054 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $712,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,722,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter valued at about $118,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Citigroup reiterated 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $156.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.49. The stock has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $157.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

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

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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