Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Lowered by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $10,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley 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 transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $104.60 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $100.07 and its 200-day moving average is $97.12.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.