Kintegral Advisory LLC Sells 139 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Kintegral Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 92,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 139 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley comprises about 1.2% of Kintegral Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Kintegral Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $12,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $152.07 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.79. The firm has a market cap of $242.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $94.33 and a 1 year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MS. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total transaction of $1,693,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at $26,307,590.40. This represents a 6.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.