Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,891,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 578,116 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,213,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Union Savings Bank increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Union Savings Bank now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% in the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the transaction, 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 have sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.18.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,599,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,501,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $99.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.25. The firm has a market cap of $169.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

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.