Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Wolff Wiese Magana LLC

Key Points

• Wolff Wiese Magana LLC reduced its holding in Morgan Stanley by 22.8%, now owning 15,206 shares valued at approximately $2,142,000.
• In recent trading, Morgan Stanley's stock has rallied, with shares priced at $160.13, up from a low of $94.33 over the past year.
• Analysts have upgraded their target prices for Morgan Stanley, with estimates ranging up to $165.00, indicating confidence in the company's performance.

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 22.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,495 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 1.3% of Wolff Wiese Magana LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,740,149,000 after buying an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $343,236,000. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% 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 worth $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $160.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.