Wealthspire Advisors LLC Sells 4,815 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Key Points

• Wealthspire Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 15.9%, holding 25,493 shares worth approximately $2.97 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of Morgan Stanley stock valued at $20.84 million over the past ninety days, indicating a decline in insider ownership.
• Morgan Stanley announced a new stock repurchase program authorizing up to $20 billion in buybacks, suggesting a belief that its shares are currently undervalued.

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 15.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,815 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 97.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $787,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,238,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $281,414,000 after purchasing an additional 892,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, German American Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 78,600 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,882,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:MS traded up $2.31 on Friday, reaching $143.23. 3,942,908 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,415,230. 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 company has a market capitalization of $228.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $93.54 and a 12 month high of $145.48. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $137.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 2.8%. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.