Morgan Stanley $MS Holdings Cut by Cacti Asset Management LLC

Cacti Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,092 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Tlwm increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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 reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $130.00 price target (up previously from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This trade represents a 11.66% 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 worth $20,841,628. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $156.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30. Morgan Stanley has a twelve month low of $94.33 and a twelve month high of $157.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly 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. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The company had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.