Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Decreases Stake in Morgan Stanley $MS

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,649 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 29,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,114,000 after acquiring an additional 1,004 shares during the last quarter. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,978,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,206,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,342,532,000 after purchasing an additional 188,296 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 6.6% in the second quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 59,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,503,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwinds support the outlook: Zacks identified Morgan Stanley among investment banks positioned to benefit from increased technology spending, active trading, and stronger underwriting and advisory activity. These trends could support revenue growth across wealth management and institutional securities. 3 Investment Bank Stocks Set to Benefit From Industry Tailwinds
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent earnings momentum remains a fundamental support: Morgan Stanley’s latest quarterly results showed adjusted earnings per share of $3.46, well above the $2.89 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 27.1% year over year to $21.35 billion. However, these results were released earlier and do not represent a fresh trading catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Investment-banking activity remains visible: Morgan Stanley was listed among institutional buyers in recent Indian transactions involving Purple Style Labs and Lenskart. These deals may generate advisory or underwriting revenue, but the announcements do not appear material enough to directly affect MS shares. Purple Style Raises Funds Ahead of IPO

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $243.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Morgan Stanley from $230.00 to $262.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $211.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.75.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $214.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $338.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $216.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.32. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $145.65 and a fifty-two week high of $232.25.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.57. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 15.65%.The company had revenue of $21.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, June 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 37.19%.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.