Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 149 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $102.47 on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.