Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Arista Wealth Management LLC

Arista Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 34.3% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after buying an additional 6,092 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after buying an additional 117,615 shares during the last quarter. Tlwm lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during the first quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 62,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,288,000 after purchasing an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.6%

MS stock opened at $143.9640 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $149.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.32.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at $16,729,231.70. This represents a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at $41,480,422.50. This represents a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.