Congress Asset Management Co. Has $1.91 Million Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 876 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 57.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 5,340 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 53,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,253,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total value of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,325,688.65. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7%

Morgan Stanley stock opened at $160.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $148.67 and its 200-day moving average is $133.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $255.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.00.

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.