NBW Capital LLC Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

NBW Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MS. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 179.2% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,062,000. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 146,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,246,000 after purchasing an additional 8,193 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $43,850,000. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Morgan Stanley by 98.9% in the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,285,000 after buying an additional 12,344 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $102.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.08. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MS. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.