FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lowered its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC now owns 373,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after buying an additional 27,845 shares during the last quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,274,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,857,000 after buying an additional 48,812 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,987,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,260 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 247.2% during the 4th quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 22,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after buying an additional 15,903 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,059,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,787,000 after buying an additional 23,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:MS opened at $98.18 on Tuesday. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.08.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.62, for a total value of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.