Wallace Advisory Group LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC lessened its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 101,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $528,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 211,212 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,528,000 after purchasing an additional 41,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $224,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $104.24 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $100.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.40%.

Morgan Stanley 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.