True North Advisors LLC Sells 2,052 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 8.4%, selling 2,052 shares and holding a total of 22,371 shares worth approximately $3.15 million as of the end of the second quarter.
• Institutional investors control 84.19% of Morgan Stanley's stock, with significant recent purchases from firms like Vanguard and Goldman Sachs.
• Morgan Stanley announced a $20 billion share repurchase program and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, reflecting confidence in the stock's value.

True North Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 8.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,371 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 2,052 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $3,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after buying an additional 2,989,122 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $343,236,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were 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 $56,325,688.65. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $158.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $253.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company's fifty day moving average is $148.28 and its 200 day moving average is $132.63. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $139.92.

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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