Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,351 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $8,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $958,105,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley in the fourth quarter worth about $512,867,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,981,528 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Investors Fund L P bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 1st quarter worth approximately $159,714,000. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.25, for a total value of $368,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,549,326. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley 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 sale, the director now owns 95,908 shares in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Trading Up 1.0 %

MS stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.61. The company had a trading volume of 4,951,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,299,212. The stock has a market cap of $168.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a 52 week low of $69.42 and a 52 week high of $109.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last announced 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. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.925 per share. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is currently 67.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.45.

About Morgan Stanley

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.