Belpointe Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

Belpointe Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,704 shares during the quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 1,147.6% in the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Morgan Stanley news, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 200,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.06, for a total value of $21,012,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,759,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mandell Crawley sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MS shares. Oppenheimer lowered Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.45.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of Morgan Stanley stock opened at $99.56 on Friday. Morgan Stanley has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $109.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.925 per share. This is a boost from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio 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.