CIBC Asset Management Inc Cuts Stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,768 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $18,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 622.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 48,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 42,033 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $103.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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 11.85%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total transaction of $797,775.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total transaction of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.