Dempze Nancy E Sells 3,000 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

Dempze Nancy E lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 27.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Dempze Nancy E’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 111.0% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. RMG Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MS. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $154.85.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $155.63 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $248.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $151.08 and its 200 day moving average is $135.18. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for 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%.Morgan Stanley’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

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.