Torray Investment Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley $MS

Torray Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,242 shares during the quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $6,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EPG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 32,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,605,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 8,457 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 225.8% in the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 145,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,537,000 after acquiring an additional 101,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 355.7% in the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 11,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 8,893 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward Pick sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.34, for a total value of $16,434,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 574,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,493,199.24. This trade represents a 14.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $164.17 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.33 and a one year high of $167.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $156.68 and its 200 day moving average is $141.51. The stock has a market cap of $262.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 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 earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.73. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 16.55% and a net margin of 13.85%.The company had revenue of $18.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $145.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.23.

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.