Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Bingham Private Wealth LLC

Bingham Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 8.0% in the second quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.5% in the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,995 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 5.7% in the second quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 10,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in Morgan Stanley by 3.2% in the second quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter valued at about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MS opened at $158.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $252.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

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

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total value of $3,576,759.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. The trade was a 16.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Morgan Stanley in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.92.

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.