Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Wrapmanager Inc.

Wrapmanager Inc. trimmed its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $98.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $159.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $100.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.33. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $69.42 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.