Diversify Advisory Services LLC Reduces Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Diversify Advisory Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 14.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,458 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 108.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 4,372 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 228.9% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 2,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2,754.7% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,793,000 after purchasing an additional 67,490 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at $19,181,552.34. The trade was a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total value of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This trade represents a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 188,949 shares of company stock valued at $25,737,084 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.25.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

MS stock opened at $140.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.11, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $134.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.22. The company has a market capitalization of $225.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $90.94 and a 1-year high of $145.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.33% and a net margin of 13.06%. The company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 43.43%.

Morgan Stanley 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.