White Pine Investment CO reduced its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 108,055 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,850 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for about 2.6% of White Pine Investment CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. White Pine Investment CO’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $4,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Davidson Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.6% in the first quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 291,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,486,000 after buying an additional 7,462 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 28.5% in the first quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 330,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,425,000 after buying an additional 73,424 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 113.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 206,426 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,843,000 after buying an additional 1,773,467 shares during the last quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 17.4% in the first quarter. LGT Capital Partners LTD. now owns 292,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,548,000 after buying an additional 43,480 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,859 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. 85.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE MS) traded up 0.66% on Tuesday, hitting $47.21. 6,329,876 shares of the company were exchanged. The company has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.54 and its 200 day moving average is $44.12. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $27.79 and a 52 week high of $48.04.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.05 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 16.77% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post $3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Morgan Stanley announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 27th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 28.65%.
Several brokerages have commented on MS. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Morgan Stanley from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. J P Morgan Chase & Co reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Monday, May 29th. Instinet reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 target price (down from $51.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Saturday, June 3rd. Rafferty Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Monday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.61.
In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Jonathan Pruzan sold 25,767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $1,202,803.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 196,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,182,329.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 212,365 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.93, for a total transaction of $9,116,829.45. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,389,378 shares in the company, valued at $59,645,997.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Morgan Stanley Company Profile
Morgan Stanley is a financial holding company. The Company’s segments include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management. The Company’s Institutional Securities business segment provides investment banking, sales and trading, and other services to corporations, governments, financial institutions and high-to-ultra high net worth clients.
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