LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Sells 1,807 Shares of Morgan Stanley $MS

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI decreased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,807 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 2.9% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $27,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors 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 first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 50.0% in the first quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. now owns 264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of MS stock opened at $156.47 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $145.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.49. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $94.33 and a 1-year high of $157.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Erste Group Bank raised Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.25.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total transaction of $2,531,160.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.