Trivium Point Advisory LLC Has $574,000 Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 18.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,074 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 3,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $695,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.13, for a total transaction of $4,092,770.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 399,105 shares in the company, valued at $56,325,688.65. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.12, for a total value of $1,693,440.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 186,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,307,590.40. The trade was a 6.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $159.06 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $163.98. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $149.46 and its 200 day moving average is $133.74. The firm has a market cap of $253.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.33.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 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 company had revenue of $16.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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. Citigroup upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.25.

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.