Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Dimension Capital Management LLC

Dimension Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,126 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up about 0.5% of Dimension Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Dimension Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Insider Activity

In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $102.34 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change 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 3.62%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 67.40%.

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.