Wolff Wiese Magana LLC Sells 218 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Wolff Wiese Magana LLC decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley accounts for approximately 1.9% of Wolff Wiese Magana LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $2,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MS. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 185.1% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 13,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 8,513 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 9.4% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 35,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 3,051 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the third quarter worth approximately $2,042,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 14.5% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,594,000 after acquiring an additional 13,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Becker Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Morgan Stanley by 0.6% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,140,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Morgan Stanley

In related news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total value of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 6,954 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.61, for a total transaction of $692,687.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,274 shares in the company, valued at $4,609,353.14. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles Aubrey Smith III sold 11,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.09, for a total transaction of $1,009,008.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 126,190 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,368,457.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,154 shares of company stock worth $10,722,696 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.30.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $98.21. 2,273,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,599,442. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.81. The stock has a market cap of $159.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.38. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $69.42 and a one year high of $103.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.97.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.33. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 61.93%.

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.