Cypress Capital Group Sells 1,156 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Cypress Capital Group reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MS. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 15,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 3,985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 44,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total transaction of $21,012,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at $15,759,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MS. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Morgan Stanley presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MS stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $102.44. The stock had a trading volume of 351,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,379,815. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $99.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.90. Morgan Stanley has a 52-week low of $69.42 and a 52-week high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $166.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 67.40%.

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.