Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Yousif Capital Management LLC has decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1.6%, now holding 166,900 shares valued at approximately $23.51 million.
• Morgan Stanley reported Q2 earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $16.79 billion, up 11.8% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a $20 billion share buyback plan and recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.00 per share.

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,727 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $23,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,578 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 59,299 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,918,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 1,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $152.07 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. The firm has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $94.33 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $151.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.79.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,988,234.22. This trade represents a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $154.85.

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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