Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Texas Yale Capital Corp.

Key Points

• Texas Yale Capital Corp. reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 26.8%, selling 6,690 shares and retaining 18,230 shares valued at $2.13 million.
• Morgan Stanley recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.00, resulting in a 2.80% dividend yield.
• The company announced a $20 billion share buyback program, permitting the purchase of up to 8.9% of its outstanding shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Texas Yale Capital Corp. lessened its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,690 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp.'s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,844,753 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,240,089,000 after acquiring an additional 604,024 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,213,599,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,740,051,000 after buying an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,774,225,000 after buying an additional 1,890,245 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,685,050,000 after buying an additional 2,233,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MS stock opened at $143.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $90.94 and a twelve month high of $145.16. The company has a market capitalization of $229.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50 day moving average is $135.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.74.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. 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 2.80%. Morgan Stanley's payout ratio is 41.90%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MS shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $144.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. 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 report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.