Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,797 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,787 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.7% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $21,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,451,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,585,561,000 after buying an additional 5,631,435 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter valued at $512,867,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 28,481,070 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,681,778,000 after buying an additional 3,981,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at $159,714,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock worth $26,546,370 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $96.64 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $109.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $100.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $157.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MS. Wells Fargo & Company cut Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morgan Stanley currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

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.