MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Sells 263 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 263 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,228,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,886,292,000 after buying an additional 495,055 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,875,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,387,000 after buying an additional 303,654 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,597,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,029,970,000 after buying an additional 212,551 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $104.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $169.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.36. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $69.42 and a fifty-two week high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a $0.925 dividend. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was 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 $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 over the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by 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.