Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 599,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,482 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $84,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 55.9% in the first 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 position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% in the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 75.0% in 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 buying an additional 26,763 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Sharon Yeshaya sold 25,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.81, for a total transaction of $3,576,759.23. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 128,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,988,234.22. This represents a 16.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 294,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE MS opened at $157.00 on Thursday. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $94.33 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $149.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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 posted $1.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Morgan Stanley from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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 target 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Morgan Stanley from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.