Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Shares Sold by Core Alternative Capital

Core Alternative Capital decreased its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,264 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up 1.5% of Core Alternative Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $7,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Teewinot Capital Advisers L.L.C. increased its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 40.0% in the second quarter. Teewinot Capital Advisers L.L.C. now owns 555,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,030,000 after buying an additional 158,886 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the second quarter worth about $2,122,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 101,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,906,000 after acquiring an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silver Lake Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 2nd quarter valued at about $528,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In other Morgan Stanley news, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $10,225,710.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel A. Simkowitz sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 442,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,146,293.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert H. Herz sold 1,000 shares of Morgan Stanley stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders have sold 252,000 shares of company stock valued at $26,546,370 over the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MS shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.73.

Morgan Stanley Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $104.11 on Monday. Morgan Stanley has a 1 year low of $69.42 and a 1 year high of $109.11. The company has a market capitalization of $169.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.42. 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 posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 10.17%. The company had revenue of $15.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Morgan Stanley will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.925 dividend. This is a positive change from Morgan Stanley’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. This represents a $3.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is 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.