Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 87,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Raja Akram sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.37, for a total value of $797,775.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 87,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,266,848.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE MS opened at $99.88 on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $162.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.59.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.17. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

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

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.