Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Sells 20,218 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 96.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,218 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $63,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MS. Oppenheimer cut Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Cfra boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $1.87 on Tuesday, reaching $96.71. 5,940,535 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,561,912. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.10. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 10.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.925 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.