Alpine Bank Wealth Management Lowers Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

Alpine Bank Wealth Management reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Congress Park Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michael A. Pizzi sold 18,000 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,181,552.34. This represents a 11.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 119,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 148,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MS opened at $160.13 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $94.33 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.25. The company has a market capitalization of $255.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 15.20% and a net margin of 13.06%.The business had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given 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 dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 8.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.