SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC Sells 6,872 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC lowered its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 20.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,872 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MS. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 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 business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share 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 is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $106,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was 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 directly owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $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 $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, 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 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.