Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Position Lowered by Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware

Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Reliance Trust Co. of Delaware’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 130.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 8,330 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 6,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.5% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 12,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Osborn Williams & Donohoe LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the first quarter. Osborn Williams & Donohoe LLC now owns 5,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 14,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE MS) opened at 48.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $88.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.61 and its 200-day moving average is $44.14. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $27.95 and a 12-month high of $48.45.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The company 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 prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post $3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 27th. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 28.65%.

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A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MS. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Credit Suisse Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $49.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, July 22nd. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and set a $52.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Saturday, July 22nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America Corporation raised their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. One research 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 company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $47.61.

In related news, CFO Jonathan Pruzan sold 25,767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $1,202,803.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 196,708 shares in the company, valued at $9,182,329.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 212,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.26, for a total transaction of $10,036,417.16. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,602,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,739,301.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 450,498 shares of company stock valued at $20,356,050 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

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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