Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 23.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,926 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in 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 period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 78.0% during the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 4,524 shares during the period. Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth about $601,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 426.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 118,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,954,000 after purchasing an additional 96,347 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS opened at $156.47 on Friday. The stock 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. The company has a market capitalization of $249.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $157.76.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 plan on Tuesday, July 1st that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.62, for a total value of $2,531,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 136,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 price objective (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.25.

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.