Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 987 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,297,000. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 49,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,783,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Morgan Stanley by 131.3% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 44,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 25,169 shares during the period. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $4,261,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total transaction of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE MS opened at $98.18 on Tuesday. 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 has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.08. The company has a market cap of $159.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is 67.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MS shares. Barclays upped their price objective 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 boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Company 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.