Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Position Reduced by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 153,663 shares valued at approximately $21.6 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, reflecting a strong return with a 2.6% yield.
• The company's stock has seen a target price increase from various brokerages, with Royal Bank of Canada now targeting $171.00 and Wells Fargo raising it to $165.00.

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,663 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,436 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $21,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in 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 last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 11,912 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 373.6% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 14,373 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,338 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MS. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research 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 a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.85.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. This trade represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MS stock opened at $156.21 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $249.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $151.35 and its 200-day moving average is $135.40. 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 (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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 45.30%.

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

Morgan Stanley 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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