RNC Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Morgan Stanley $MS

RNC Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 55.9% during the first quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 327,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,265,000 after purchasing an additional 117,615 shares during the period. Tlwm lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the first quarter. Tlwm now owns 13,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 75.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 26,763 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MS. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $171.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.23.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

MS stock opened at $157.99 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.32. 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 $166.77.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $18.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.85% and a return on equity of 16.55%. The business’s revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.03%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 management believes its shares are 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.