Manchester Capital Management LLC Buys 192 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 21,794,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,740,051,000 after acquiring an additional 6,744,333 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,941,000 after buying an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 25,561,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,213,599,000 after buying an additional 2,725,335 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,403,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,685,050,000 after buying an additional 2,233,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,112,508 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,774,225,000 after buying an additional 1,890,245 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MS shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This trade represents a 12.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $139.09 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.26. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $223.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.32. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $90.94 and a 1 year high of $145.48.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.