Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Cuts Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV trimmed its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 53,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,040 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Union Savings Bank lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 62.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 13,333.3% during the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Norwood Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter worth about $39,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays raised 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. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, HSBC raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MS traded down $3.78 during trading on Monday, reaching $92.07. 9,652,327 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,641,128. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total transaction of $106,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 258,954 shares of company stock worth $27,239,058. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Morgan Stanley

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.